Brotherhood: Chi Iota Iota
by Spunkt
Summary: Roxas, Axel, Demyx. Three new pledges, the things they will do for brotherhood [Org. XIII as a FRAT]. Within the walls of the frat house, nothing is sacred. AU, drinking, drugs, violence, and 'brotherly bonding'.
1. Frathouse Bring All the Boys to the Yard

Welcome to "Brotherhood: Chi Iota Iota". This is an AU Kingdom Hearts fic that places the male members of Organization XIII into a fraternity. While I am not personally involved in Greek life at my University, a lot of my friends are and this idea popped into my head. I decided to start writing and see where it takes me, hopefully you'll enjoy it.

The characters of this story will be as strictly in-character as possible, but of course there needs to be room for slight artistic license when placing them in a different setting. Also, I took the liberty of adjusting their ages to fit the story. Not that we really know all of their ages anyway.

**Please read this before you continue, it will help you understand my twisted logic:**

Basically, the Roman numerals X and I also have Greek names as well as English names. Greek-wise, X is the symbol 'chi', and I is the symbol 'iota'. Since I am translating this from Org. XIII, I found it appropriate to name the fraternity 'Chi Iota Iota', leaving it at XII for the obvious absence of Larxene (I was going to gender-switch her, but decided against it). Everything else will be explained in the story.

**Warnings**: Language, alcohol and drug use, sex, violence, and possible slash.

**Disclaimer:** All characters belong to Disney and Squarenix. The plot, however, remains mine alone.

**Brotherhood: Chi Iota Iota**

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* * *

It wasn't that he was stuck up. Far from it, really. In fact, he found it quite hypocritical for the other frat-heads to call him such; they all chose their brothers just as he did every Fall, weeding out the weak and strange and settling only for the young men deemed worthy of Greek life. They had all poured liquor down the willing throats of many-a-freshman, had their fair shares of police raids, and each were known for _something_ that made the members proud to be a part of their pledged fraternity.

Perhaps it was the fact that Chi Iota Iota, or Chi Double-I to the public, was a relatively new fraternity on campus. The public University of Destiny Islands (UDI) was over 125 years old, boasting both strong academic and social programs. Even students who were not from the Islands traveled far to be a part of the large school, which was infamous for it's Greek life. Some of the fraternities and sororities had been around for decades, but Chi Double-I was a mere 17 years old. On top of that, it was an overwhelmingly popular fraternity on campus. Only 12 members were allowed in at a time, mirroring the frat's Greek symbols into numerical Roman ones. It was like some sort of exclusive club, and without fail, it had the most rushees each Fall. Thusly, many of the members boasted about being a brother of XII.

Brother Xemnas peered out his window and across the sprawling campus, eyeing the chaos below with a slight smirk. Freshmen milled about the walkways, usually with their parents and baggage in tow, as they found their ways about the campus for the first time. It was funny, really, to see them look so overwhelmingly confused. He even dared to look down at the recruiting table Brother Vexen had set up in front of their house. It was swamped as usual; the condoms and pamphlets that were being passed out were nearly gone. It wasn't even lunch time. Many of the brothers were hanging around the table or on the steps, talking to potential fresh meat and answering questions about their house.

As president of XII, this pleased Xemnas greatly. He had been voted in as the new leader at the end of the previous Spring semester, and he vowed that his senior year was going to be memorable. Much rested on his broad shoulders, and he wanted to do his predecessors proud. Brother Xigbar, his best friend in the fraternity, was his vice president and right hand man, and the two had rushed together all those years ago. Vexen was voted the treasurer/secretary despite being a third-year, and the remaining members proudly represented many different walks of life.

Yet they were all tied together. Upon joining the frat, they had accepted a chi, or 'x', into their names, using their given letters to spell out a chosen nickname that they went by from that day forward. It was a commitment, a whole new support system to swear loyalty to, a new family. They accepted the bonds of brotherhood, and the weights of others under one roof. And when three of their members had graduated last Spring, three coveted spots opened up amongst their ranks. Xemnas eyed the group of young men below him, wondering privately if any of them were to be his new brothers.

* * *

"One at a time, you fucknuts," Xigbar called over the milling crowd in front of the table. He was currently passing out papers detailing the Rush Week schedule, on Vexen's insistence of course. If it were truly up to him, he would still be inside sleeping. Eager students squelched about in front of him, forcing themselves not to stare at his eye patch (which was currently decorated with the fraternity's Greek lettering).

"Your vocabulary astounds me to this day," Brother Xaldin muttered at his friend's side, doing his best to maintain his composure. He personally disliked Rush Week, finding it hectic and impersonal and so disappointingly necessary. He did his best to smile pleasantly at the boys as they each took a schedule, but it was proving to be increasingly difficult.

To their left and right, the remaining members of Chi Iota Iota were chatting with potential new members. Well, if you were Brother Lexaeus you were chatting, but if you were Brother Saix, you were discouraging people from ever coming back. He was only a sophomore, but had already become cocky with his status as a brother; dismissing boys who he felt unfit for becoming a pledge. Brother Zexion, his former pledge-mate, had quietly reminded the other that they _all_ got to decide on the new members. Saix was unfazed and continued his screening process, convinced he was doing the rest of them a favor.

"Zex, tubby isn't fit for Chi," Saix argued as a dejected looking teen waddled away. Saix had denied him a Rush Week schedule, effectively being the biggest jerk on the steps of XII.

"You're cruel," was the only offered answer.

* * *

Roxas pushed his way through the crowd, pen tucked safely behind his ear as he did his best to reach the table he knew lay a mere meter or two away. He usually hated his short stature, but was momentarily using it to his advantage as he squirmed through the masses of people. He was relatively swift, and found little resistance until he collided with another student. Thanks to the people around them, they were cushioned and neither fell over after the initial stumble.

"Watch it, would you?" The taller boy said, turning to face Roxas with an icy glare. The blonde startled under green eyes, his own darting to the red head of spikes, dark tattoos under the eyes, and decidedly punk-ish outfit. Typical. What was a kid like this even doing in front of a frat?

"Sorry," Roxas said, managing a hardened smile. He knew he had to be friendly and non-confrontational, especially in an atmosphere where everyone was judging and sizing him up. Without allowing time for the other to look away, he extended his hand. "Roxas."

The red-head gaped for a moment before a smile split his face. He shook Roxas' hand enthusiastically, chuckling to himself. "Oh, hey! My name is Ale, I'm really excited to meet you! I have a lot of questions if you don't mind me asking, I'm just-"

"Wait," Roxas said, laughing a little despite himself. Ale was acting overly-friendly, and he was still shaking his hand. "Why would you have questions for me?"

"Well I want to join your frat, obviously," he said with a grin, finally releasing Roxas' hand. He smelled like cigarettes.

"I'm not in the frat," Roxas replied, grinning sheepishly. Yes, there was an 'x' in his name. Seeing as that was the signature of a Chi Double-I brother, he supposed he shouldn't have been that surprised at the mistaken identity. How he already knew this, he kept to himself for now.

Ale stared for a moment, his face contorted slightly as he looked Roxas up and down. He thought for a moment that he may really be a brother playing a trick on him, but quickly dismissed the idea. He brought a finger up to his temple, tapping it slightly and winking. "Don't try to trick me," he said. "That makes you competition."

"Don't worry, I may not even make it through Rush Week," the other admitted, and they continued to push forward together.

"You'll be fine," Ale offered. They snaked forward as the crowd continued to move. He saw pretty boys staring at him, but brushed it off. No matter how he looked, he wanted to be a part of the frat. After all, they were notorious for outrageous pranks, wild parties, and making best friends for life. After leaving his friends behind for UDI, he was in the mood for a bit of all three. The blonde hadn't flinched under his heavily kohled eyes, and that was a step in the right direction of camaraderie.

"Condoms!" someone yelled from the front. Roxas was promptly hit in the face with a packaged banana wrapper. Ale saw a cleared path, grabbed him and walked in the direction of the offending distributor. It was a brother.

"No glove, no love!" the pink-haired brother was chanting, tossing condoms from a large bucket out and into the crowd. Most looked amused, and some of the other brothers rolled their eyes. Roxas rubbed his cheek and looked slightly concerned.

"Wouldn't happen to have the Rush schedule in that bucket, would you?" Ale asked once he and Roxas had pushed their way to the front. The brother smiled pleasantly, pulling two copies out of his bucket and handing them to the boys, along with some condoms.

"Since you asked so nicely," the brother said, a distinct air of superiority in his voice. Then, extending his hand, "Brother Marluxia. Third year."

Ale and Roxas introduced themselves respectively, thanking the elder for the schedules.

"You look vaguely familiar, Roxas," Marluxia said after they had gotten over the pre-existing 'x' in his name. "You _are_ a freshman, right?"

"Yea," the blonde replied, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"Hm. Well, see you both tomorrow, bright and early!" he waved, turning his attention to the next person 'in line' for a schedule. Xemnas really should have made more copies.

They had gotten what they came for, and Ale and Roxas were glad to free themselves from the crowd. As soon as they were clear, they sort of looked at each other awkwardly. Ale promptly lit a cigarette, inhaling the sweet nicotine with a pleasant smile. He offered one to Roxas, but the blonde declined the offer.

"Why do you want in?" Ale asked suddenly, putting the pack into his front pocket. "Into Chi, I mean."

"Er," Roxas replied, kicking the pavement beneath his feet. "I… I had a brother in Chi Double-I, he had a really good time." Ale didn't answer, only took another drag and nodded. "But don't say anything about it, okay?"

"Promise," Ale said on the exhale.

"And you?"

"Looking for a good time, this is supposed to be the best." Another deep inhale.

"Good enough reason as any."

Ale nodded, smashing his cigarette into the ground. Roxas scrunched his nose but didn't say anything. "Well, I have to finish unpacking my room," the taller boy said, pointing in the direction of his dorm. Though he secretly hoped he'd be moving into the XII house soon, and didn't want to get too comfortable. He kept that part to himself.

"Me too."

"Ok. You'll be there tomorrow, right?"

Roxas tried not to smile. He had come to UDI all alone, and it was possible he had just made his first acquaintance. A punk wannabe, cigarette-smoking, yet totally nonjudgmental acquaintance. Not someone he thought he had _wanted_ to meet, but chances are he wouldn't see much of guy anymore anyway. If he had any idea of the kind of people accepted into XII, he knew Ale wasn't going to be one of them. "Right!"

They said their goodbyes, and parted ways. The following morning was the Chi Double-I hosted breakfast, and all rushees were required to attend if they even hoped of gaining some sort of favor. Eight in the god damn morning. The blonde didn't know if the whole idea of fraternity was for him, but from what his brother had said…

Roxas sighed. He wasn't looking forward to going back to his new roommate, a brooding boy with long silver hair. If things went his way, he too would be moving out shortly and into the frat house. The house he had only ever heard of, dreamed of, but honestly had no idea what kind of chaos bred inside.


	2. Make Your Mark

This story is just way too amusing and has so much potential… how could I not continue? Thanks to those of you who bothered to review, I really appreciate it. Reviews give me incentive to write, thank about it :D

Anyway, on to chapter 2. MAN I love this story.

**Brotherhood: Chi Iota Iota**

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* * *

The rented-out dining hall had nine large, round tables set up in no particular pattern, one for each member of the fraternity to preside over. That left room for roughly 55 or so freshmen, and if the past years were any indication, that was going to be just enough. At a quarter to eight, they opened the doors and the flow began. Zexion, who was stifling a yawn as he held open the door, internally cursed the brothers before him for starting a tradition that required this ungodly hour.

As soon as the clock read 8:01, the doors were closed. A few latecomers were denied entrance despite their best excuses, and Zexion walked smugly towards his own table and took a seat. Each table held about 6 prospective pledges each, who were all vying for the attention of the brother who sat with them. It was relatively pathetic, really, watching them all act out like this. It took a special person to take this sort of behavior in stride so early in the morning. Unfortunately, not a single brother of Chi Iota Iota qualified.

Roxas had been one of the last ones in, jogging through the door and sitting at the nearest table to catch his breath. A few freshmen and a very weary Vexen glared at him from their plates, passing judgment left and right. Great. Ale waved like an idiot from his table, and Roxas nodded in response, slightly impressed that the other had scored a table with the frat's president. He must have been one of the first in line.

Things were normal for a while; everyone seemed to enjoy the provided breakfast while talking to the brother at their table. There were plenty of stupid questions floating around, and a snappy response could be heard across the room relatively often. Roxas looked around, feeling a bit nervous for what he had been warned would come. Sure enough, at exactly 8:53, all the brothers dropped to the floor. The made extreme gagging noises, writhing on the floor and closing their eyes in apparent pain.

It was near-chaos. Many rushees jumped to their feet, shouting 'are you okay?' and making a fuss. Others looked worried and abandoned their food, even flipping open their cell phones as if they were going to call for medics. Roxas remained in his seat, concentrating intently on his breakfast. His brother had warned him of this, and despite how much he wanted to laugh, he shoved food down his throat instead. Even when he caught Ale flailing in the corner of his eye, he focused on his scrambled eggs. Couldn't the stupid kids look around, realize that _all_ the brothers were acting the same?

"Brothers!" Xemnas suddenly called. He had jumped up from the floor, raising his arms in a comically grandiose fashion.

"Ohm, cha cha!" the others called in unison, though some more enthusiastic than others, mimicking the president's motions.

"Brother Xemnas!" he yelled out, beating a fist against his chest in an ape-like fashion. "President of Chi Double-I! Choking on the bullshit spewed from my table!"

"Brother Xigbar!" the one with the eye patch yelled next, barely missing a beat. Today, the eye patch had a happy face on it. "Vice President of the greatest fraternity at UDI! Choking on my coffee, which I had to Irish-up so I can get through the morning!"

"Brother Vexen!" Roxas looked at the otherwise reserved person before him, pleased to see him staring back. His brother had been right, he'd acted the right way to get noticed. "Secretary and Treasurer of Chi Iota Iota! Choking on the powdered eggs that taste worse than last year!"

"Brother Xaldin! Fourth year! Choking on the fact that this is only the first day of Rush Week!" The brother was huge, and the freshmen at his table were currently in shock at seeing him at his full height, bellowing like an animal.

"Brother Lexaeus!" an equally large man yelled. "Third year and choking on the lack of intelligence in the room!"

"Brother Luxord! Third year, choking on a full house!" called another student from a table in the corner. It seemed that his wit went unappreciated.

"Brother Marluxia!" The man Roxas has previously met jumped onto a chair, tossing his hair and gripping his crotch in a display that screamed 'pay attention to me'. "Third year and choking on a dick!" The room burst into short spurts of laughter, and the roll call was momentarily dislodged.

"Brother Zexion!" another called, obviously annoyed at his brother's previous comment. "Second year, choking on Marly's awful taste in clothes!"

"Hey…"

"Brother Saix! Second year and choking on the stench of fresh meat!" The final brother snarled, a wicked grin splitting his lips. Roxas noticed that two chairs placed at his table had already been vacated. He assumed either rushees had avoided the Brother, or had been frightened away.

"Thanks for stopping by and partaking in this glorious harvest of cafeteria food, my dear freshmen," the President said smugly once quiet feel once more. Few of the rushees had dared to open their mouths after the impromptu roll call, and had been scared into further silence by Xemnas' booming voice. "Now that you've met some of the brothers of Chi Iota Iota, hopefully many of you will be less inclined to return tonight for the Halo competition."

"That's Halo, not Halo 2," Xigbar chirped in, folding his hand to look like a gun and blowing on the tip.

"Thank you for that," Xemnas continued with a trying-to-not-look-amused eye-roll. "Tonight, 7pm. Basement of the Traverse building."

"Remember, there can be only one!" the vice president interrupted again. Xemnas threw him a look, but quickly sighed and declared breakfast over. As the crowd dispersed, Roxas chanced a look over to Xigbar. Obviously the Halo tournament was his idea, and by the look on his face, he was planning to spank each and every freshman who dared challenge him later that night.

* * *

"You're really bad at this," Ale said as he scored another kill. Roxas groaned loudly and tossed his controller aside. He was awful at Halo, which while gaining him little respect from his guy friends back home, had little practical use until now. Thankfully, Xigbar was playing at another machine and all the attention was on that screen so no one had seen Roxas' defeat save a few rushees.

"I know, thanks," Roxas bit back, frustrated and bitter.

"Oh come on, don't be mad."

"Get a life, Ale," Roxas half-joked, walking away from the Xbox.

"See ya!" the other responded with a big smile, waving Roxas off as the next group of three took their controllers against the reigning champ. "Alright, who's next?"

While impressed with Ale's 'mad skills' at Halo, Roxas couldn't find it in himself to stick around the TV at the moment. Instead he went to get some punch, which was, much to his delight, heavily spiked. Not that he was a big drinker or anything (yet), but he figured that getting a bit tipsy was at least something to do while the tournament played itself out. He took a sip and surveyed the room, eyeing the three televisions as they played host to the bloodbaths.

"Hello," a cold voice said from behind him, forcing Roxas to choke on his drink. Smooth. "I couldn't help but notice you this morning, I believe you sat at my table?" Vexen said, a faint smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. Tonight he was sporting rimless glasses that gave his hollow features an even sterner look than before.

"Oh, I did," Roxas managed with a sheepish grin. He extended his arm for a firm handshake. "Brother Vexen, right? I'm Roxas."

"Roxas? Interesting," the elder replied, looking the other up and down. "Tell me, was it on purpose that you kept your seat this morning as I lay dying on the floor."

"Heh, well you _weren't_ dying is the thing. Everyone dropped to the floor at once, I figured it was a prank," Roxas said nervously, purposely leaving out the fact that his brother had warned him of the shenanigans. Hey, it only gave him a _slight_ advantage after all…

"Very observant of you. I'll be keeping an eye on you, Roxas." A true smile appeared on the man's face, and Roxas couldn't help but return the sentiment. "I suggest you try chat up some of the others. Oh, and don't drink the punch."

"Uh," Roxas said, staring into the red liquid.

"Knowing Marluxia, there's enough laxative in there to keep you on the loo for a week. Take care," Vexen said with a wink, walking away to join Zexion on the other side of the room.

Roxas immediately put down the cup, shivering slightly.

In the end, Ale managed to wipe the floor clean with anyone who came close to the Xbox he ruled over. He even gained a bit of a crowd, boys around him whooping every time he managed another kill. He wound up going against Xigbar and another rushee (Roxas thought his name may have been Vincent, but he wasn't sure) for the ultimate title of Halo champion.

It was close, really close. Ale and Xigbar were neck and neck most of the way, only a kill or two apart at any given time. The other freshman fell pathetically behind, but had a relatively good attitude about it. As the last few seconds wrapped up, the two were tied. A last minute stab in the back proved Xigbar the winner by a hair, and the Brother jumped up to cheer along with the rest of the crowd. Roxas even cheered a bit himself.

In the excitement, Xigbar even pulled Ale up onto his feet and gave him a hug as they jumped around. "That was so close!" Xigbar was yelling over the noise. "You made me sweat like a fucking pansy in prison!" They were laughing and dancing, acting like fools and not ashamed for a moment. The energy in the room was contagious, with all the rushees and most of the Brothers surrounding the three finalists, hooting and hollering and sharing a few laughs. It was camaraderie. It made Roxas smile.

"Wooooo! Roxas!" Ale said, pulling Roxas in towards him after receiving many pats on the back and words of awe. "He got me, that sneaky bastard! Hah!"

"You were really fantastic, congratulations!" Roxas said loudly, catching the fever of the excitement all around him.

"It's amazing! Xigbar invited me back to the house! You should come!"

"No way… Ale, I can't believe it! Fuck yea I'll come!"

"Cheers!"

The brothers and roughly seven or eight of the remaining rushees pushed themselves up and out of the basement, sure to bring the equipment with them. Roxas didn't mind that he was tucked swiftly under Ale's arm for the entire walk, being shifted around and pushed up against and smiled down upon by the beaming redhead. He was just happy to be coming back to the house. He was happy Vexen liked him. He was happy that Ale remembered to shower and did not smell.

Roxas had never been inside the frat house before. He had seen pictures, yes, but had never actually set foot inside of it. It was more breathtaking in real life. The downstairs was currently a mess; stacks of papers and other materials for Rush Week littered the floors and tables, making the area resemble an overbooked law firm. The required paddle sporting the frat's Greek symbols hung on a wall opposite the mess, along with the portraits of past presidents.

The group moved down into the basement which, according to Roxas' brother, was the 'drinking area'. Sure enough, as soon as everyone had successfully made it down the stairs, shots were being distributed. Roxas didn't know what golden liquid it was as a plastic shot cup was shoved into his hand by the ever-grinning Ale, but he took it anyway in the spirit of camaraderie. Everyone was laughing and holding a cup, it would have been a crime to not partake.

Eight shots of the burning liquid later, Roxas was sitting on the lowest step of the basement stairs, his head between his knees. The basement was still mostly a noisy mosh-pit, Brothers and rushees alike speaking together, or 'dancing' to the music, or holding each other so as not to topple over. The music was being watched over closely by Zexion, who seemed to have taken a liking to another blonde rushee with the strangest looking faux-hawk Roxas had ever thought he'd seen. The two were deep in sober conversation, and Roxas ached for sobriety. He felt slightly ill.

Scratch that, very ill. He jumped up, took the stairs two at a time and barely made it to the main level bathroom with enough time to lift the toilet seat and expel the contents of his stomach. His entire upper body heaved as he retched, screwing his face up in agony as liquid shot from his nose and mouth. When the worst of it was over, he coughed and spat, grabbing for toilet paper to clean his face. Flushing, he sat down on the cool floor and leaned against the opposite wall in agony.

"Roxas Igaro. Nice puke."

Roxas raised his head, and was mortified to see Xemnas standing over the threshold of the bathroom door, arms crossed in front of his chest in a superior manner. The blonde couldn't help but groan, eyes slipping shut as his head lolled backwards and thudded against the wall.

"You're Studix's little brother, hm? You know, he was my 'big brother' when I pledged. You look a lot like him."

"I'm not my brother," Roxas managed to choke out, burping and making a disgusted face.

Xemnas wrinkled his nose, but this could not mask his obvious amusement. "Seeing as you puke so easily, I would say not. Now," he pulled another shot out from only god knew where (maybe it was a super power only frat-heads had), presenting it to Roxas in a daring manner. "You've puked, so you must have room for this."

Roxas looked up at the cup, stomach turning at the mere sight of it. But he knew this was a challenge. It was Xemnas looking him in the eye, asking him right out if he was willing to do anything to get into XII. It was cruel, and it was a golden opportunity. The blonde turned his bleary eyes upwards and managed a smirk as he snatched the cup and downed the shot. He swallowed and pursed his lips together, a tight smile masking his grimace.

"Impressive," was all Xemnas said, smiling as he strode away. Based on that and what Vexen had said, he could tell Roxas had the potential to be a good replacement.

Roxas waited until he hoped Xemnas was out of earshot before throwing himself over the toilet and vomiting again.

He was eventually rescued by Ale of all people, who was drunk but functional. He pulled Roxas up off the floor, jovially talking about the rushees downstairs having terrible diarrhea, and that they would be needing the bathroom Roxas had passed out in. Ale also exclaimed that they would use the toilet if Roxas was passed out next to it or not, and that he was saving his life, really. Roxas responded by throwing up a little onto his own shirt.

Somehow they made it back to Ale's dorm, which was clear across campus. It was the drunk leading the drunker, and it was a miracle Ale could even distinguish the right key to open the door. Mercifully, his roommate was sleeping and did not stir even as Roxas was dropped unceremoniously onto the tiny futon. A water bottle was shoved in his mouth and he drank it without complaints. He only blushed a little when he was stripped of his puke-stained clothes and covered with a thick blanket.

"You okay?" Ale slurred, that stupid grin still on his face. He didn't have a shirt on.

"Yes," Roxas managed in a whisper, smiling weakly. "Thanks."

Ale ruffled the blonde spikes and flopped into his own bed, allowing sleep to take him immediately. After all, tomorrow was another day.

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Yes. Love this. Please review :D


	3. Pledge

Quickly: a big thank you to everyone reading the story and encouraging its progress, especially to those of you who took the time to review. I want you to know I'm having a lot of fun writing it (really. like it's almost _bad_ how fun this is) and I truly hope you are having just as much fun reading it :D Your reward? A really awesome long chapter! It is a chapter of much progress, and many happenings.

Same warnings and disclaimer as first chapter.

**Brotherhood: Chi Iota Iota**

* * *

* * *

"Yeah. Yeah, I miss you too."

Ale's voice was muffled as he spoke to whoever it was on the phone, pacing the small floor space of his dorm room as he rubbed sleep from his eyes. He was still shirtless, and had a pair of sweatpants draped loosely on his hips. The roommate was gone, and there was no telling what time it was. Light poured through the window, beautiful and warm and Roxas wanted it as far away from him as possible.

"Mhm. Mhm. Yeah. Yes. _Yes_, mom. Okay. Love you too. Bye."

Roxas wanted to snicker. He also wanted to disappear into the moth-eaten blanket that was glorious and warm, if not slightly itchy. He wanted to piss, but he didn't want to move. He wanted Ale to look away so he could make his escape and throw up again. He wanted to get something for this headache… What he _did_ do was crack one watery eye open against the harsh rays of the sun, only to stare at Ale's form bustling about the room.

"Nnnguuuuuuurgle," said Roxas, effectively accomplishing nothing.

Ale turned to look at him, kohl smudged into dark circles under his eyes. He smiled, looking well and happy and as if no liquor had passed through his system the night before. Gods he was thin. And pale. And approaching Roxas with a smirk that read 'you owe me'.

"Good morning, princess. Feeling okay?"

"Uhhhnnnnn…"

"That bad, huh? _Man_ you're a lightweight." Roxas glared at him, but Ale still kept his smirk intact.

"Sucks. Real bad," Roxas managed, his first words since passing out. Sure they only had one syllable apiece, but it was something. He knew he must have looked pathetic at the moment, clutching to the blanket and balled up on Ale's lumpy futon like a hung-over fetus.

"Hm. Well you should get up because the football game is in an hour," Ale said, walking away to find a shirt. He knew he should probably take a shower, but logic proved he was only going to get dirty at the game, therefore a shower could be saved until afterwards.

"…I don't think I'm going."

"What!? You know you hafta go to all the events if you want any chance of pledging-"

"It's too late, I'm out already," Roxas moaned, pulling the blanket over his head in a pitiful manner. "Xemnas saw me puke last night, it's over."

Ale pulled a navy shirt over his head, smoothing estranged hairs back into a tight ponytail while letting out a low throaty chuckle. "I know. He was talking about it downstairs, and trust me, you're not finished. If anything, you've gained favor."

"What do you mean?"

"Said something about being shocked you took another drink or something. Then he told everyone about your brother, he seemed kinda excited."

Roxas didn't say anything. He sighed into the blanket and closed his eyes, trying to process this information away from his headache. Before he could, Ale ripped the blankets off his half-naked body and tossed them aside. Roxas sputtered but couldn't form a response outside of wrapping his arms around his bare chest.

"So get up. You're getting into that frat."

"A-ale, I…" Roxas looked up, but he was at a loss for words. Ale had this look on his face, a determination within him that was nearly frightening. His jaw was set in such a way that Roxas felt he would be chewed out if he tried to protest further. Yes, he still wanted to get into the frat, and he supposed he should've been thankful for the push Ale was trying to give him. Maybe he had misjudged the man before him, brushed him off as a lazy punk while in reality, he had more motivation than Roxas had himself. "Okay," he said finally, managing a smirk. "We'll get in together."

"You mean that?"

"Yes." Roxas sat up, grinning and offering his hand.

Ale laughed, taking the smaller hand in his own and shaking it as enthusiastically as he had when they first met. "Alright. It's a deal, then!"

* * *

The football game was an event planned by Brother Lexaeus, who also held a spot on UDI's varsity team. The game was fun, really. Despite mild feelings of nausea, Roxas was able to use his speed to his team's advantage on a play or two. And, as Ale pointed out, the number of rushees had decreased sharply from the day before. It took them until the poker tournament that night (hosted by Luxord) to figure out it must have been Marluxia's diarrhea fruit punch.

The next day, a tour of 'Sorority Row', a line of sorority houses on the west side of campus, was conducted by Marluxia. A friend of his, Larxene, was a member of the sorority Gamma Iota Iota (which was the unofficial sister sorority of Chi Double-I) and accompanied them as well. Whatever detail Marluxia left out of his description of each sorority, Larxene filled in with her scathing reviews. Like every frat, every sorority was known for something. There were the easy girls, the ugly ones, the smart ones and the party animals… the list went on.

That evening was a group expedition to the school's student performance night, where Brother Zexion assured them they would find good music. He was right, and both Brother and rushee alike enjoyed themselves with the wide variety of genres and talent. Ale even danced with the crowd to his favorites, along with the same spikey-haired blonde Zexion had previously taken a liking to.

"Meyd," the boy introduced himself to Roxas after being prompted by Ale, sweaty from dancing but smiling all the same. The next song came on and the two were gone again, mixed with the crowd and that was that.

There had been a combat team back at Roxas' high school, but it was nothing compared to the extensive artillery provided for the award-winning and nationally recognized team UDI boasted. Brother Xaldin had taken the rushees to view the training areas the following morning, and Roxas was more than glad to get his hands on a long katana, giving it a few swings with Xaldin's permission. He was captain after all, and could pull a few strings so that those rushees who were interested could poke around the area as they pleased.

That particular day of Rush Week may have been Roxas' favorite for not only had he 'bonded' with Xaldin over talk of combat team try-outs, but that night Vexen had set up a few telescopes on the terrace of the astronomy and physics building. They also ate a typical college dinner of some greasy fast food while enjoying the cool night's air. Vexen had approached Roxas while he was gazing through a telescope, Ale by his side and smoking a fag.

"Roxas, a moment?" Vexen had said, managing a pleasant smile.

"Oh, sure. What's up?" Roxas straightened and smiled back, hand still resting partly on the telescope.

"I hadn't had a chance to really speak to you before about this… but Xemnas mentioned that you're Studix's brother. Is that true?"

"Er, yeah. Tidus- I mean, Studix- used to be a Brother."

"I see," Vexen raised a brow, smirking slightly. "I'm surprised you didn't mention it before. Studix was a great president, it was hard to watch him graduate last year." Vexen said pleasantly. Ale choked on the inhale, coughing so hard that Roxas felt it necessary to pause and pat him roughly on the back.

"I mean," the blonde said between Ale's chokes, "I didn't really want anyone to know. It's hard enough being in his wake at home, ya know? Jeez Ale, these things are gonna kill you…"

"I see," the Brother repeated, bowing his head slightly as if deep in thought. The expression on his face concerned Roxas slightly, but it was soon replaced with a stretched smile. "I'll leave you to it, then. Take care."

"Bye…" Roxas said pathetically, Ale still clutching onto his shoulder for support.

"Your brother was," cough "the _president_ of the frat!?" Ale managed.

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you-"

"Let's not talk about it, okay?" Roxas asked, looking to his friend with pleading eyes. Despite his inquisitive nature, Ale mercifully let the subject drop. For now.

The following afternoon, Brother Saix had the rushees engaged in a widespread game of manhunt that included over half of UDI's massive campus. It was the second to last day of Rush Week, and the total number of men who still stood had dwindled down to a pathetic 11. Saix explained that if a Brother found them, they were 'out' and had to help find the other rushees. Basically, it was every man for himself, and the moment the game began, the prey ran off as fast as they could. When the big clock in the middle of campus rang six pm, it was over.

After running around like maniacs for hours on end, all eleven met back up in front of the steps of the frat house, as instructed to do should they not be found. Once they had all realized none of them had been found or even pursued, they knew they had been tricked. Moments before they could think of what to do next, an onslaught of water balloons were brought on from all angles. They were filled with soda, and the boys had nowhere to run.

"As you know, tomorrow is the final day of Rush Week," Xemnas announced to the now sticky and cranky potential Brothers. "While I hope the past few days have excited you about Chi, I feel compelled to warn you that things will not be anything like this should you actually be accepted as a pledge. For some time, your lives will be close to miserable, actually. Code forbids me to divulge, but I would hope you understand the gist. You have approximately 24 hours to reflect over this before the final event tomorrow, do think it over carefully."

* * *

Not a single person who was rushing backed out of the final event. Roxas looked at them all as they stood lined up against the wall, like prisoners before a firing squad. He was impressed with all of them for putting up with the games, each other, and the sometimes-taunting nature of the Brothers. He had become relatively friendly with most of them, despite the fact that they were all competition, and he could never stand up and say who deserved it more.

They were blindfolded by smirking Brothers, marched into the next room and up onto a platform of sorts, stripped of their shoes and made to stand on the edge before being abandoned. They stood shoulder to shoulder, and Roxas had no idea if he still stood next to Ale or not. It didn't matter, and his heart rate was increasing in response to the sensory deprivation. He curled his toes against the floor, biting his lower lip out of habit.

The room was silent for a few moments save the heavy breathing of some of the rushees. It was unnerving. Suddenly, the sound of glass being thrown against the floor made everyone jump. It sounded as if the Brothers were smashing it right in front of them, and a few loud snickers could be heard every now and then, but no one spoke.

"Welcome to the last night of Rush Week," Xemnas announced dryly, his voice monotone and serious. "Congratulations on making it this far, you have all proven yourselves to us. Still, there can be only three admitted into our fraternity this year, and we have one last test to help us make the final cut." More breaking of glass could be heard.

"Meyd!" a Brother yelled out. Roxas silently thanked whatever god there was that he didn't have to go first. "Do you think the Brothers here actually enjoy your company? Answer me!"

"Y-yes."

"That's yes SIR!"

"Yes sir!" Meyd yelled out, his voice stronger this time.

"Do you actually believe they will accept you?" the Brother continued, his voice cold. "Would you give everything you have to be accepted, lapdog? Answer me!"

"Yes sir!"

"Then prove it! Jump down onto the glass below, show us your dedication!"

A few gasps could be heard from the freshmen standing by Roxas, and he swallowed his own urge to utter his protests. Jump down onto _glass?_ Were they _serious!?_ The room fell quiet, the air thick with anticipation. For a few moments longer it was nothing but uncomfortable shifts, maybe a few muffled snickers from the brothers. This was cruel, it was inhuman…

Meyd uttered a small grunt of effort as he jumped from the ledge. A sickening sort of crunch was heard, followed by strangled screams that Meyd was obviously trying hard to bite back, but was failing. That was all anyone heard for a few moments and Roxas froze, true fear paralyzing him where he stood. Meyd's screams had turned to quiet sobs before the next rushee was called out.

It continued like that, each boy being called out by a different Brother, riled up and prompted to jump. Jump, crunch, scream. It wasn't until Roxas heard the person to his right being called out that he began to feel nauseous, knowing he was next. He heard the crunch of the glass, now sickeningly close to him as the rushee cried out in pain.

"Roxas! Do you want to pledge Chi Iota Iota?" a deep voice called out, terrifying.

"Yes sir!" Roxas yelled loudly, doing his best to be brave. This was going to hurt, but it wouldn't be that bad, he tried to reason with himself. It wouldn't be awful, Tidus had never come home limping or anything, it must not be that bad. He couldn't even hear Meyd anymore, maybe it stopped hurting after a bit? Shit, this was going to _hurt_.

"Do you think the Brothers truly like you, freshman? Answer!"

"Yes sir!"

"Do you think this will be easy, Roxas? Do you?"

"No sir!"

"Do you think we are just going to let you in because your brother was president last year? Is that it, little shit brother of Studix? Answer me!"

"NO SIR!" Roxas screamed in response. His blood boiled, angered by the Brother's words. They were trying to agitate him, to push him down and make him mad and it was working.

"Then JUMP!" the Brother snarled.

Without pausing, Roxas took a sharp breath and leapt from the ledge.

His feet crunched against the floor, and he let out a startled noise as he did his best to keep his balance. But glass was not poking at his feet, and it was not painful at all. Before he could even think, the Brother who had been screaming at him was throwing his voice, sounding as if he was in pain. He grabbed Roxas by the shoulders and whispered a harsh "yell, now!" into his ear. He did as he was told, too shocked and relieved to do otherwise. He called out as if in intense pain, relief washing over him fully. "Good job" was whispered into his ear before he was released, and he continued to sob slightly. He was smiling now, he couldn't help himself. Chips crunched under his bare feet.

Ale was called out next (so they _were_ standing next to each other that entire time), but Roxas was too preoccupied with his faked groans of pain to really pay much attention. When Ale crunched down next to him and he heard the redhead being prompted to yell, he smiled even wider. Once the Brothers had moved on to the next freshman, Roxas blindly reached out for his friend's hand and found it, squeezing it out of relief, joy, or both. The taller boy squeezed back and they continued to moan pitifully for a short while longer.

* * *

"I don't like him."

"You don't like anybody."

"I liked everyone last year."

"They graduated, Saix. We have to choose new Brothers, it happens every year. Get used to it."

"I know that, _Zex_. But I just don't like that one, the other ones are fine-"

"Everyone likes him but you."

"Would you two shut up? You aren't freshmen anymore and we need to make the final decision before next year," Marluxia said, sipping his tea noisily.

"The fag's right. C'mon Saix, we all have to unanimously agree on each new pledge. What the hell is your problem with the kid anyway?" Xigbar said rudely, scratching his empty socket.

"I hate it when you do that…" Xaldin said, scooting his chair away. Lexaeus snorted in amusement.

"I can't put my finger on it, something about him just… I don't know. He doesn't seem trustworthy," Saix tried to explain, crossing his arms in front of chest. He was met with eight blank stares, and he sighed. "Nevermind, it's probably nothing. I vote yes."

"Thank _god_," Luxord exclaimed.

"Now that that's taken care of," Vexen said, pulling a picture back from off the table and replacing it with two more. "These two are the ones we still couldn't decide over for the last spot."

"I told you I really want this one," Xemnas said, pointing to one of the photos. "I can't believe you guys don't all agree. Don't I get presidential power or something?"

"…He's not going to replace Studix, man," Xigbar said, uncharacteristically gentle.

"Shut up, don't think I don't know that."

The room went silent.

* * *

"Roxas, get the door," Riku mumbled into his pillow.

"It's for you," Roxas said to his roommate, pulling the blankets up over his head and turning against the wall.

"Roxas!" Ale's muffled voice called out from behind the door, continuing to bang his fists against the cheap metal.

The blonde groaned and ripped himself from his warm bed, shuffling over to the door to the sounds of Riku's chuckles. He threw the door open, sporting the grumpiest face he could manage.

"Ale. How did I know?"

"I'm in."

"What?"

"Roxas, I was invited to pledge."

"WHAT!?"

"Check your floor, mine was slipped under my door…"

Roxas practically jumped backwards, flipping on the lights and searching the floor frantically.

"Hey!" Riku called out, sitting up in bed and looking very angry indeed.

Ale and Roxas were looking around, and the blonde was growing more worried by the millisecond. Where was it? No, if it wasn't here, did that mean he wasn't in? Shit shit shit…

"Here!" Ale called out, handing a piece of folded paper to Roxas. It had the fraternity's Greek letters on it. Roxas greedily opened it up, all ideas of sleep long forgotten. "Well?"

"I…" Roxas began, eyes scanning the page. His shoulders slumped slightly and he looked up to Ale, pained.

"No.. fuck, Roxas. No, you- you didn't?"

"I… I got in."

"You-! God, you tricked me you little fucker!" Ale yelled, pulling Roxas into a headlock by the front of his nightshirt.

"Still trying to sleep here…" Riku called pathetically from his bed.

"We did it, we did it!" Roxas chanted with his friend, jumping up and down in a fit of glee. They were practically dancing together, so happy it would have been contagious were anyone else awake at 5 in the morning.

_Congratulations_ Roxas Igaro-

_You've been accepted to pledge the fraternity Chi Iota Iota. You have demonstrated the qualities we desire in a future Brother, and would like to invite you to move into the fraternity's house. But remember, you are not yet a Brother. If your scrawny ass is not on the front steps of our house with all your shit by 11 am tomorrow, you can kiss the Brotherhood goodbye._

_Sincerely,_

_The Brothers of Chi Iota Iota_


	4. Move in!

I apologize for taking so long. Real life and all.

Author's note: I know that normally, pledges don't move into the frat house until after they've been inducted as a Brother, but I'm tweaking it. So there

**Brotherhood: Chi Iota Iota**

* * *

* * *

Rolling a giant bin halfway across campus that contained all of his poorly packed belongings was a work out in itself, Roxas decided. He had thrown everything into it in a bit of a rush, much to the dismay of his sleep-deprived roommate. Riku had admitted he was not looking forward to a new roomie (after all, who could complain with a guy that was barely there?), yet had congratulated Roxas all the same for being invited to pledge. The two had said a friendly goodbye, and the blond had all but skipped away from the dorm in a fit of joy.

Cursing the uneven pavement below, he finally grew close to the fraternity houses and increased his pace in anticipation. There were already boys in front of some of the other houses, all new pledges getting ready to move in. When Roxas finally reached the Chi house, he breathed a sigh of relief. He was fifteen minutes early.

"Roxas!" a cheerful voice called from the steps. Meyd revealed himself from behind a similarly large bin full of junk, guitar case strapped to his back. "Alright!"

"Hey," the shorter replied, slapping Meyd a high-five and catching his breath through a smile. "Congrats!"

"You too! Do you know who else-"

"Ale. Should be here soon"

"Oh good! The door is locked by the way," he said, gesturing to the front door behind him. "I wonder if they've already decided on our names. Do you think we'll get our own rooms? I'm so nervous, it's awful. It took me all morning to pack everything. I'm really glad it's you and Ale, you know."

Roxas smiled, shaking his head slightly. Couldn't this guy stay on one thought for more than two seconds? Of what he knew about Meyd, he was a friendly person who could be a little forthcoming at times. Not that he was obnoxious; in fact he could be really serious when talking about politics or music. When excited though, he could come across as a complete chatterbox. Despite that, he was really likeable and it was honestly no surprise he had been asked to pledge. And boy could he hold his liquor.

"Hey!" another voice called out from not too far away. Ale was pushing a precariously balanced stack of boxes on Roxas' skateboard, and had a huge bag strapped to his back. Roxas couldn't help but laugh at the sight, finally able to understand why his friend had asked to borrow the board. "Is that you, Meyd? It better be."

"What are you, against renting a bin or something?" the said boy called, pointing accusingly at the stack of junk as it wheeled to a halt in front of him.

"Eh," Ale said, shrugging. Meyd offered him a high five as well, and they slapped hands in masculine greeting. "Now I don't have to take one back, unlike you idiots." He shrugged off the large duffle bag, letting it fall to the floor with a soft thud.

"After that comment, you're definitely not riding in one," Roxas said.

"Aw…"

The front door to the house jiggled and creaked open, effectively gaining the undivided attention of the three boys. A pajama-clad Xigbar took one look at them, grimaced, and closed the door again. The pledges looked to each other, not daring to speak as they heard some arguing behind the door. It was muffled, but distinct protests could be heard on the vice-president's part, as well as angry curses and an eventual loud slapping noise. Xigbar reappeared, a welting hand mark reddening on his shoulder.

"Get in the house," he said, gesturing behind him. A few of the Brothers were watching from behind the door.

"What about our stuff?" Meyd asked.

"Oh, yea. Uhm, leave it on the porch for now," Xigbar replied before retreating into the house, leaving the door open.

Ale, Meyd, and Roxas wasted no time in lugging their belongings up the stairs, leaving them in piles on the porch as instructed. The bins were left abandoned at the bottom, to be taken back at another time.

Stepping into the house for the first time since the official end of Rush Week, Roxas immediately noted how much cleaner the downstairs areas looked. The dining room table was no longer covered in stacks of papers, and the living room carpet looked recently vacuumed. It even smelled nice, but he knew that wouldn't last when the semester began. The three new pledges fidgeted slightly in the foyer, unsure of what they were supposed to be doing. A few lingering Brothers watched them, exchanging smug expressions.

"Alright, are they in?" Xigbar called from the kitchen not too far away.

"Yup!" Marluxia cheered.

The vice-president re-emerged from the kitchen, a large thermostat of what smelled like coffee steaming in his hands. "Okay then, kiddos. Follow me."

He led the three up the stairs, where some of the rooms were. He explained that the third floor was where the older members lived, while the pledges and younger members resided on the second floor. As they walked down a corridor of the second floor, Roxas noticed that most of the rooms had their doors closed, except for the occasional bathroom. The house really was enormous.

"And this," Xigbar said, opening a door at the end of the hall, "is where you three will sleep for now."

The pledges stuck their heads in curiously, excited to see their new room. Their expressions dropped immediately; the place was the size of a walk-in closet. There was only one small cot that barely qualified as a bed, and it took up most of the floor space. The room was so immeasurably tiny, there was no way all three of them could possibly be expected to live inside it together.

"Wait," Ale said immediately. "All three of us are supposed to sleep in here? We'll never fit!"

"I'm sorry, do you see a problem with the room we cleaned up for you guys?"

"I, er-" Ale tried to speak, but was cut off.

"Because if you like, you could go right back to whatever dorm you were in before."

"That's not what I meant-"

"And while you're at it, you can forget about pledging Chi. Is that what you were asking?"

"This in fine, really. Thanks, Xigbar," Meyd cut it quickly.

"Good," Xigbar said with a wicked smirk. "We expect you downstairs in two hours for lunch. Take that time to settle in, make yourselves at home." With that, he turned and walked away, snickering to himself the whole way.

The pledges stood there for a while, looking to themselves and the small room they had been dumped in front of. It rendered them speechless. Roxas thought hard, trying to recall any information his brother had told him about pledges moving into the house. Unfortunately, he couldn't think of anything, and hoped more than anything that this was just a prank. It had to be, they couldn't live here for a year…

"Look, notes," Meyd said, pointing to the cot. Three pieces of paper with the fraternity's letters on it lay inconspicuously on the mattress. They quickly pushed their ways inside, upset to find the space even smaller with the three of them standing there. Each took a note, exchanging them when realizing they were personally addressed.

"Oh god, tonight?" Ale said, having sped through the note.

"Hm?" Roxas asked.

"We're getting initiated as pledges tonight," was the reply, aqua eyes scanning over the letter again just to make sure.

"Waste no time, huh?" Meyd replied with a smile. "Think we'll get our names?"

"Yea!" Roxas said excitedly. "And I bet we'll be assigned our Big Brothers too."

"We're never going to fit our stuff in here," Ale murmured, looking at their tiny room.

"Oh, don't dwell on it. I mean come on, we're getting initiated tonight!" Meyd said cheerfully, giving the redhead a reassuring pat on the back. "This whole… thing. We'll figure it out, okay?"

Ale sniffed dismissively, apparently he did not agree.

"Let's go take the bins back, you can ride in mine, okay?"

"Meyd, stop rewarding his sulks," Roxas said, folding his note into his pocket.

The musician simply smiled, taking Ale by the hand and leading him out of the room and downstairs. Roxas sighed and followed, chancing one last pathetic look back at their tiny closet-room before he set off down the stairs.

* * *

"Did they complain?" Lexaeus asked as he worked, flipping some of the patties on his skillet.

"I'll tell you if you give me a damn burger already," Xigbar half-growled from behind the larger Brother, hand snaking around to try and take an already-cooked piece of meat. It was slapped away with a spatula.

"Can you not wait like the rest of us? Have an apple or something," Xemnas said from the kitchen table where he was thumbing through the paper. He was one of the few inhabitants who had already changed from his pajamas, seeing that he had developed into a morning person. It had happened sometime after his 21st birthday, when he had to manage constant hangovers as well as schoolwork.

"Shouldn't we be more excited or something?" Marluxia thought out loud from his position on the counter. "I mean, we finally pick our pledges and here we all are, moping."

"I'm not moping," Xigbar said.

"I don't recall fighting over the pledges last year. This year it was a bit more…" Vexen began.

Xemnas cleared his throat loudly.

"Complicated," the blond finished with a half-hearted sneer. "The balance in the house changes year by year, it's difficult even for us to expect much."

"They're good kids," Lexaeus muttered from the stove.

"I know, I know," Xigbar muttered with a sigh. "I'm looking forward to the whole thing, really. It's just… now that they're here, it's for real that the others aren't coming back; that they really did graduate, you know?"

A strained silence filled the kitchen, broken only by the sounds of the stove.

"Yes. But hey, it's going to be fun!" Marluxia chimed as happily as he could. He practically jumped from the counter, slinging an arm around the VP. "Those boys won't know what hit them! I'm going to go wake the others, and when our new pledges come down for lunch, you better all have your game faces on. Got it?" Before waiting for an answer, he had left the kitchen and was making his way towards the stairs.

The remaining Brothers looked to each other, strange smiles finding a way to all of their faces. When one was in a sour mood, it was easy to forget just how much fun it was when new pledges came into the house. They were the new objects of torture, humiliation, and fun for the rest of the house.

"…Can I have a burger now?"

"No."

* * *

Ale was leaning over the edge of the bin as Meyd pushed him, cigarette barely between his slack lips. He looked rather pathetic when he was dejected.

"Sit back, already. You're going the make the thing topple over," Meyd said.

The redhead huffed and sat back inside of the bin, adjusting his position so that he was facing Meyd. He wasn't terribly upset, just irritated at the idea of living in a closet. Something told him that it was just a prank, a test of their dedication… but he knew that once classes started, he'd want a real place to sleep. He'd fail all his classes if he couldn't get a good night's sleep. Hell it was hard enough paying attention as it was.

"What if we pull the cot out of the room, put our stuff in it and just sleep in the hallway?" Roxas called out. He was behind the other two, pushing his bin.

"But we still only have one cot. Two of us could fit _maybe_, but then what?" Meyd called back. Apparently they had been discussing how to deal with their rooming situation, but Ale had been in his own world.

"Go sleep in someone else's room?"

"That's what they want us to do. We need to figure this out on our own and show them they can't break us so early in the game," the brunet answered. "But I like the idea you had before. We can camp out in the hallway, alternate using the cot. Use our blankets and stuff to just sleep on the floor."

"Yea, that could work. What does Ale think?" Roxas called back.

"Fine with me," the said boy called, waving his hand out of the bin. Roxas grinned.

When they finally made their way back to the house, operation move-in officially began. The three helped each other carry all the belongings into the house, up the stairs, and into the tiny room. They had pulled out the cot and left it in the hallway, piled with their bed sheets and pillows while the room filled with their clothes and other belongings. They even designated areas for clothes, books, and shoes. ("Ale, you have way too many shoes," Roxas had said. "Shut up, I love my chucks!") For what it was, it seemed relatively organized. They left their toiletries in the corner for the time being, until they knew which bathroom they could leave them in, and their laptops lay useless among the rest of the junk.

They did this all fairly uninterrupted. They earned a few raised eyebrows from passing Brothers, obviously slightly shocked to see the cot outside of the room. They were relatively finished before lunchtime rolled around, and scrambled down the stairs excitedly to eat their first meal in the house.

Lunch was… surprisingly uneventful. It was similar to rush week, minus all the other potential pledges of course, in that most of the meal was spent on idle conversation. At first it centered around snide questions about the pledges' new bedroom, but soon the topics switched to the start of year's events. Roxas and Xaldin discussed try-outs for combat team, Demyx and Zexion talked about the mystery concert the next week, and Ale talked about classes with Marluxia. Of course, these conversations were immediately derailed when Xigbar mentioned the frat's first mixer.

It wasn't that Chi Iota Iota was considered the 'wild party' frat. Okay, maybe it was a little. To be fair, all the fraternities and sororities went all out at the beginning of the year with their mixers; that was just the way it was. So when ideas started flying across the dining room table about their first party, all attention was focused strictly on that. It took a lot of planning and coordination to throw a successful party of considerable magnitude, but the Brothers were pros.

"It won't take too long to throw this together, like 3 days tops," Xigbar said through a mouthful of mashed potatoes. "And that's just out of courtesy, fair warning and all."

"The kegs take time," Vexen pointed out. "But I'll take care of that as usual."

"I'll do decorations," Marluxia offered.

"The pledges can be on poster duty," Xemnas said with a smirk. The three youngest held their tongues and internalized their groans. Xigbar laughed, accidentally coughing some food onto Luxord.

* * *

"I can't find the shirt I want," Roxas said from inside the tiny room where his belongings were currently strewn all over the floor. So much for keeping the place neat.

"Jeez, Rox. It's an initiation, not a date," Ale teased from the door. Meyd snickered.

"You're due in the basement, ladies," Xemnas said from behind them. The three pledges smiled excitedly and Xemnas turned to walk downstairs, his demeanor calling for them to follow. Roxas slipped on a shirt, not the one he had wanted but good enough, and followed his friends two flights down and into the basement.

The furniture had been pushed to the walls of the main room, and in the center of the cold concrete stood three stools. Xemnas nodded his head towards them, and the pledges each took a seat. The Brothers stood in a sort of semi-circle around them, leering down at their fresh meat.

"We hope you understand what you're getting yourselves into," Xemnas said with his distinct air of superiority. "This is by no means going to be as easy as rushing was."

A pause; the pledges shifted uncomfortably on their stools.

"We know you can do it, otherwise you wouldn't be here now. But it's going to be hard. You, as the youngest members of the house, are at the bottom of the food chain. You do what we tell you, drink what we tell you, and carry out your obligations no matter what. Every action, every word you utter will be a test of your loyalty and your trustworthiness. We say jump, you ask how high. Basically, boys… until you are initiated as Brothers, you are our bitches."

"Bitches, bitches," the Brothers chanted behind their president.

"Blindfolds," Xemnas called. Lexaeus, Xaldin, and Xigbar stepped forward to blindfold the pledges, shit eating grins and all. "Through this time, you will have to work together and against each other. You will have us, and you will have your 'Big Brothers' to guide you. From this day forward, you will go by the name we give you, and all your loyalties will lie within this fraternity as you become part of it."

"Ale," Saix said, stepping forward from the group and walking to stand in front of the redhead. "I am your assigned Big Brother. From now on, you will be called Axel. Do you accept?"

"Yes," the said boy replied quickly.

A loud _whump_ sound resonated through the basement as something hard came in contact with Axel's chest, knocking him off the stool and onto the ground. He coughed hard, hand on his chest.

"Take off the blindfold and stand, Axel," Saix said, extending his hand downwards. Axel did as he was told, accepting the hand up and smiling despite his watery eyes. He saw that Saix was holding the fraternity's paddle in his other hand and, while it hurt like a bitch, he was filled with some sort of bastardized happiness.

"Meyd," Zexion said, stepping forward swiftly. Saix handed him the paddle, which he took with both hands. "I am your assigned Big Brother. From now on, you will be called Demyx. Do you accept?"

"Y-yes," he said, still unsure of what exactly had happened to Axel and less than thrilled to find out.

Again, the paddle smacked against skin, and Demyx fell backwards onto the floor with a surprised groan. Zexion suppressed a laugh.

"Stand up and take that thing off, Demyx." Zexion extended his hand as well, sporting an uncharacteristically large smile as he helped his friend off the ground. Demyx rubbed his butt, whispering a low 'that hurt' through a smile.

"Roxas, it's your lucky day," Vexen said. "You were suited for this place the moment we met you. I am your assigned Big Brother, and your name will remain Roxas, seeing as it's already suitable. Do you accept?"

"I- wait, what?"

"Do you accept?" Vexen repeated patiently.

"Yes."

_Thump_. Roxas fell to the floor with a thud.

"Remove the blindfold and stand, Roxas." The elder helped Roxas from the floor, a knowing smile offering its apologies. Roxas looked far from happy, but did not speak.

"I suggest a good night's sleep, freshmen. Starting tomorrow, your hell begins," Xemnas said. "But before you teeter off to your luxurious bedroom, I propose a nightcap, yes?"

"Yes!" a few of the Brothers cheered, immediately moving to retrieve liquor and cups from the downstairs fridge and freezer. Cups were passed around to the twelve young men, some of whom were in conversations of congratulations to their newest pledges.

"A toast," Vexen proposed, raising his own cup over his head. The others followed suit. "To our new pledges. Here, here!"

"Here, here!" everyone repeated, cups smacking against each other jovially before being emptied into waiting mouths.

* * *

"Roxas?" Axel called, sticking his head into his tiny bedroom.

"Go away, Ale."

"That's Axel. A-X-E-L, okay?"

"Go awaaaaaay."

"Don't sulk, dude," Axel said, walking into the room carefully until he was right in front of Roxas, towering over his sitting frame. "Everyone is still downstairs, why'd you run off?"

"It just sucks, I wanted a name," Roxas said with a sigh.

"Yours has an 'x' in it, no one will know-"

"_I'll_ know! You guys got them, it's not fair that I don't get one!" Roxas exclaimed, maybe a bit louder than he intended. Damn, he really needed to build up his alcohol tolerance.

"Oh shut up. You're still here, you know?" Axel crouched down so he could be at eye-level with the blond. "The name thing doesn't really matter. You're still pledging, isn't that what's important? Isn't that what you wanted?"

"…Go away."

"Tool. You know I'm right." Axel stood, a smirk stretching his face. "When your balls drop, come back downstairs, alright?"

"Fuck you."

"Thatta boy."


	5. Party

Hehe, betcha didn't think I'd have this up so "soon". This is a really long chapter, too. Guess I got a bit carried away… But yeah, this story had over 1500 hits, neato! XD I'm such a dork.

**Brotherhood: Chi Iota Iota**

* * *

* * *

Roxas woke with a start, sitting straight up in the cot with an overwhelming feeling that he had forgotten something very important. This anxiety was quickly squelshed by the sounds of soft snoring somewhere to his right, and he looked to the floor to find Demyx and Axel tangled in blankets and each other. Drunk people liked to snuggle, apparently.

"Wake up," he hissed down at the pair, swinging a leg over the edge of the cot to kick at them.

"Five more minutes," Demyx gurgled and shifted over, half-asphyxiating Axel in the process.

Roxas immediately rolled his eyes and rose from the cot, shuffling over to the nearest bathroom for what would surely be a wonderful morning piss. The bathrooms in the house were surprisingly clean considering they were shared amongst men. After relieving himself (he was right, it _was_ wonderful), he washed his face and chanced a look in the cabinet mirror.

Axel withdrew his head from Demyx's armpit upon being startled awake by a loud exclamation of 'what the fuck.' Roxas came stomping out of the bathroom, and he looked far from happy. When he got closer, Axel realized the reason why.

"It says 'balls' on your forehead, dude," the redhead mumbled sleepily, cheeky smile and all.

Roxas paused in his huff to glare down at his friend. "I know that," he snapped, narrowing his eyes. "It says 'anus' on yours. Which I find amusingly appropriate."

"No shit?" Axel asked, rubbing his forehead as if it would help. He then looked down to Demyx. "Says 'dick' on his," he said matter-of-factly.

"I don't wanna play Monopoly," Demyx offered, rolling away from Axel and onto his stomach.

"Did you two have fun last night?" Roxas leered, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"We did, thank you," was the snide reply. "And you would have, too, if you had stayed downstairs. I can't believe you're still bitching about it."

"I'm not _bitching_, and I'm glad I didn't wind up on the floor with you faggots."

"And would you look at that? You _still_ wound up with balls on your face."

Roxas' jaw locked up, nostrils flaring with the purest form of anger humanly possible. He was still upset about not receiving a nickname from the fraternity; it had been something he was really looking forward to. On top of that, it seemed that Axel had been doing nothing but provoking him since the previous night, and the large exclamation of 'balls' seemingly engraved into his forehead with permanent marker was just a reminder that he was about to embark on an embarrassing and demeaning journey that signaled the beginning of his pledge-ship. Something he would have to do without a cool nickname like Axel or Demyx.

Still, as Axel glared up at him, he knew he was partially in the wrong for being mad at his friend. He was being childish about the nickname thing, he knew (something Tidus would have mocked him endlessly about), and to let it manifest in his mind to the point where he was lashing out… well, it was a bit ridiculous. So he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, attempting to shake himself out of the bad mood. Axel had been right, the name wasn't important. It was the fact that he was pledging, he should be happy either way.

"Listen, I'm sorry," Roxas said. "I'm not mad at you. I'm just, you know, with the name and whatever, and it's just like… You know I wanted a name too."

"I do."

"Yeah, and that just made me get angry and stuff and I got mad at you because you were being all not sorry about it because you had a name, you know? But I wasn't really mad at you, I was just mad."

"Slow down, Rox. I've got a headache," Axel said with a slight grimace.

"Oh. Well, I, uhm. I'm just sorry, that's all."

"Yeah, okay. Help me up?" Axel extended his hand and Roxas gave it a tug, heaving the redhead from the floor and away from Demyx's still-slumbering form. He was swaying a little at first, and held on to Roxas' shoulders for support. "Oh. I might be throwing up today," he added casually.

"How much did you drink?" Roxas asked, face screwing up.

"Me and Dem had a little contest and I think he won. So a lot?"

"That's not good…"

"No, it isn't," Saix interrupted from behind the pledges. Roxas and Axel turned to look at him, the taller paling a bit. "Considering you're supposed to spend a good part of the day with me, blowing chunks would be a bad idea, Anus."

Axel swallowed hard, willing the bile in his esophagus back where it belonged. Maybe just a _little_ vomiting would make him feel better, but he would have to wait until Saix left the area. He held a little harder onto Roxas' shoulder as if it would help him keep his stomach in place for just a while longer.

"We have to run errands for the party, and I expect you downstairs in twenty minutes," Saix continued, obviously taking slight amusement in Axel's face. "You should get yourself ready too, Balls. I expect Vexen will be looking for you soon. And wake up… what did we write on him?"

"Dick?" Axel offered.

"Yes. Wake up Dick, and get yourselves in order," the Brother sneered before turning on his heel and walking down the stairs.

Axel cocked his head to the side, watching Saix disappear. When he thought it was safe, he exhaled and let go of Roxas, walking towards the bathroom with all the pride he had left. Which wasn't all that much.

"I'm gonna puke and shower, do you need anything from the bathroom?" the redhead asked casually, one hand resting on the knob.

"I'm okay," Roxas answered, pulling a face. Axel closed the door, and the blond walked over to where Demyx was still sleeping. "Wake up, would you?" he said, shaking the other with his foot. Awful gagging noises could be heard from the bathroom.

"Hmm?" Demyx said dreamily, cracking his eyes open.

"You need to wake up. Zexion will probably be looking for you soon, so you might want to be wearing something other than the clothes you wore last night."

A pause. Demyx stretched and groaned, scratching his stomach idly as he rose fully into consciousness. After a yawn, he looked back up to Roxas and blinked.

"It says 'balls' on your forehead."

* * *

"Sorry," Axel said to the hundredth person he nearly knocked into. The woman looked up at his forehead, made a strange face, and quickly walked away. He sighed, shifting the contents in his arms slightly. "Saix? Can't we just get a cart?" he called pathetically.

"Where's the fun in that, Anus?" the Big Brother said over his shoulder as he led them down another aisle of the supermarket.

Axel groaned, his arms starting to break from all the cups, napkins, and mixers he was holding. They were piled up high, and he could barely see around them to be able to tell where he was going. On top of that, he still felt weak and slightly queasy from the previous night, and Saix was being completely unsympathetic, the ass.

As soon as they had paid for the groceries, Axel threw up in the parking lot if only to spite him.

* * *

"Vexen? Where _are_ we?" Roxas asked, peering out the passenger window with morbid curiosity. Even though it was still early in the afternoon, this particular area of wherever-the-fuck-they-were was unnaturally dark. It may have been due to the large forests bordering both sides of the road, or it may have just been plain creepy.

"Never you mind," Vexen answered, tapping the wheel lightly with his thumbs. Xaldin had agreed to let them borrow his truck, seeing as it had plenty of cargo space, and could therefore fit all the kegs they needed. As the couple ventured further from campus and deeper into the rural surrounding area, Roxas grew suspicious.

They turned onto a small dirt road, the truck humming happily along as they got closer to their destination. Finally, they pulled up to an old house buried deep within the forest. Vexen turned the car off and got out, motioning for Roxas to follow him. The blonde hesitated, then left the vehicle and followed Vexen up the rickety steps to ring the front doorbell.

"WHO THE FUCK'S THERE?" was bellowed from inside. Fumbling could be heard, as well as the cocking of a gun. Roxas stepped back nervously, but Vexen didn't budge.

"It's me, Cid. Open up, would you?" The taller said politely.

The front door swung open, revealing a blond man who had to be in his thirties. He looked mad, and a cigarette was blazing in his mouth as he peered at the intruders through narrowed eyes. He looked to Roxas first, then up at Vexen. His gaze softened slightly.

"Is this your new pledge, Vexen?" Cid said gruffly, eyes flecking back to Roxas.

"Yes, it is. Introduce yourself," the Brother said down to Roxas.

"H-hi. My name is Balls," Roxas said, extending his hand.

Cid looked down at him, then over to Vexen then back down at Roxas. Suddenly, he let out a loud bark of a laugh, grabbed Roxas' hand, and shook it happily.

"Nice to meet ya, Balls!" he said, grinning. "You two can meet me over at the garage, I'll give you your kegs. But first, pay up."

Vexen placed a roll of cash into Cid's waiting palm, and also handed him a plastic bag with some containers of liquid in them. They were chemicals; Roxas knew because he had covertly helped Vexen prepare them in the chemistry building earlier. Cid smiled and took his payment greedily before disappearing into his house. Vexen led Roxas around to the garage.

"What does he need those chemicals for?" Roxas asked as they walked around to the other side of the house.

"What do you think?" Vexen answered. Roxas stayed silent and Vexen sighed. "He makes drugs with them, Roxas. Oops, I mean, Balls. Heh, sorry," he said and cleared his throat. "Meth, actually. Not that I condone his behavior at all, but he sells me the kegs for a large discount."

Roxas decidedly remained silent as they loaded the kegs onto the back of the truck.

* * *

"It's…. it's _beautiful_," Demyx said in awe.

"It's broken."

"I want to have sex with it."

"…That's repulsive," Zexion murmured, placing his hand protectively over his vintage turntables. He had inherited them from a cousin, and they had worked wonderfully until a fateful day the previous spring. "I want you to fix it, not molest it."

"I'll see what I can do, but no promises," Demyx said cheekily, wagging a finger at his Big Brother.

"You touch it inappropriately, and I swear I'll kill you."

"I won't, I won't," the pledge chuckled, taking a screwdriver from the toolbox and beginning to disassemble the machine. "Do you take care of the music at all the parties?"

"Usually, since I got here," Zexion said absently, sitting on the floor to begin leafing through his massive collection of CDs, picking out the ones he was planning to use at the party.

"That sucks, then you can't have any fun," Demyx responded, removing the lime-green plastic shell.

"Music _is_ fun."

"You know what I mean."

Zexion looked up from the floor, staring at Demyx's form as he hummed and took the turntables apart. He frowned slightly. "Dick," he murmured for good measure, eliciting a light chuckle from the blond.

* * *

The next day found the pledges out in the summer heat, hanging up and passing out flyers all over the expansive campus. Axel had even resorted to taking off his shirt, tying it around his head like a makeshift wrap. The trio often found it difficult to hand out flyers with the offensive anatomy still written on their faces, faded as it was, and eventually Roxas and Demyx followed Axel's example in order to hide their foreheads and make life easier.

Perhaps it made things _too_ easy, as they found themselves often dragged into conversation by a girl or two who appreciated their half-naked state. In any other situation, the boys probably would have found the whole thing flattering and a boost to their ego, but at that point in time, they simply wanted to finish their task and get the hell inside. After many see-you-at-the-party's, hundreds of staples, and a few rolls of tape, every flyer they had been given was gone, and they retreated to the frat house.

"Water!" Demyx promptly exclaimed as they dragged themselves over the threshold. He led the trio straight to the kitchen, and grabbed the nearest available beverage. It was a beer, and it was gone in roughly 23 seconds. Axel pressed his half naked body against the cool tile of the floor, and Roxas stuck his face into the freezer. Groans of pleasure (and a belch from Demyx) filled the kitchen as Xemnas entered, smirk intact.

"Don't get too comfortable," he said idly, pushing Roxas out of the way and opening the fridge to find himself a soda. "You're going to be fitted for your uniforms soon."

"Uniforms?" Axel mumbled into the floor.

"Yes, for the party," the president continued evenly, the hint of amusement masked as he took a swig from the pop. The pledges looked at each other knowingly, worst-case scenarios running through their heads.

"I really don't have time for this you _ass,_" Larxene hissed as she stomped into the kitchen, Marluxia in tow. He was holding what seemed to be armfuls of fabrics, with a sewing kit balanced precariously on top. She stopped dead in her tracks and stared at the three shirtless boys before her. "Them?" she said to Xemnas, all disgust and loathing in her sneer.

"Yes, them," Marluxia interrupted, dumping the materials on the kitchen table. "And if this is really such a big deal, you can just let me do it."

Larxene laughed to herself, approaching the pile on the table and pulling out a tape measurer. Demyx was closest to her and she motioned for him to stand up, which he did partly out of fear. She yanked him closer to her by the waistband of his pants, and wrapped the tape around his hips hastily.

"Next," she demanded, and Roxas approached her. "You guys smell," she murmured while measuring Roxas' waist.

"Yeah, well that's what happens when you've been outside all day," Roxas said, doing his best not to pay attention to her hands on his bare abdomen.

After measuring Axel as well, she rummaged through the pile and pulled out three pairs of black slacks. She quickly checked the sizes, and tossed a pair to each pledge. "These will have to do," she said, crossing her arms. The boys looked down to them and to each other, seemingly frozen where they stood. "Well, put them on! I don't have all day!" Larxene barked, prompting the three into action: they immediately dropped trouser and slipped into the pants they had been given.

"Too big," Axel said, pulling on the waistband of his slacks. They were certainly long enough, but were a few inches too big around his middle.

"Have you heard of a belt?" Larxene snapped as she kneeled by Roxas' feet. She had pins in her mouth and was adjusting the length of the pantlegs. "Mar, give them the white shirts, would you? And have them try the vests, they may need to switch a few times to get the best fit. I don't want to take them in too much… And would you stop moving, blondie? I'm not trying to stick you with these but if you don't stand still I will drive them through your toes and into the floor until you do, okay?"

"Yes ma'am," Roxas said, terrified. He accepted a shirt and vest from a chuckling Marluxia, hastily tossing his sweat-soaked t-shirt aside and pulling the crisp new clothes on. It was a white long-sleeved dress shirt with a black vest on top. He looked over to Demyx and Axel, who were trading vests and looked a bit absurd at the moment.

"There," Larxene said, stepping away from Roxas. "That should do it. Mind the pins when you take it on and off, okay? I don't want blood on these."

* * *

"I look ridiculous," Axel said mournfully as he stared at himself in the mirror. There were so many pins keeping his vest looking proper on his skinny frame, he had nearly been afraid to put it back on.

"We all do," Demyx offered. "And your tie is crooked, here."

"Thanks."

"I can't believe we have to walk around all night in these," Roxas sulked. "Everyone is going to be dressed normally, and here us three are like a walking freak show."

"It could have been worse. I'd rather be dressed like a waiter than… I don't know, a clown or something," Demyx said.

"A clown? Where do you get this shit?" Roxas said with a smirk.

Demyx shrugged and pulled down on the sleeves of his shit. He actually looked relatively decent in the outfit and he knew it, yet he was refraining from making any comments on the matter apart from sympathizing with his comrades. Not that it mattered, really. They were being put in these outfits so they'd stick out as the pledges at the party. Their first big event and they probably weren't going to have any fun. In fact, chances were they were going to hate it.

"Okay, kiddos. I have your assignments," Xigbar said, poking his head into the bathroom where the three pledges currently stood. His eye-patch had a heart on it. "You three look dashing, might I add. Anyway, Axel will be collecting fee at the front door. Demyx will be behind the bar… don't smile like that, you have to stay relatively sober. And Roxas, you're gonna thank me for this one; you're on girl duty."

"What's that?"

"Ehhh, basically you mill about the party and make sure nothing fishy is going on, you understand? It's an easy job. If you see a girl who may have had too much or something, maybe a sleezebag trying to take her home, just get in the way, you know?" Xigbar explained.

"No fair!" Axel said, mouth hung open in outrage.

"Obviously I'm the most intimidating," Roxas said, flexing.

"Okay, shrimp."

"I'll kick your ass!" Roxas leered back, punching Axel playfully in the stomach.

"Ah, pins!" the redhead yelped, pushing Roxas away.

The party began as one would expect a normal party to begin. People trickled in slowly at first, mostly in groups of two or three. Axel collected ten dollars from every person who entered, taking his job quite seriously.

"Please? Ten dollars for me and my friend? We don't have any more money," a pretty blonde thing asked him sweetly, clutching her well-dressed friend and pouting.

"Go find some guy to pay for you. Liquor ain't cheap, you know," the redhead snapped, sending the girls away.

Demyx minded the bar dutifully as well, only sneaking a few sips here and there. While he had to put up with the demands of drunken party-goers most of the night, the bar was stationed next to the music table. Rather, Zexion had set himself up next to the bar so he could talk to his pledge.

"They work perfectly," he said happily early on in the night, referring to his newly-fixed turntables. "I don't know what you did, but it works. Almost better than when I first got it."

"Some of the wiring was worn down, that's all," Demyx answered in the middle of distributing tequila shots. "On something as old as that, I'm surprised all the original parts worked for so long… Hey, be careful with that! If you spill it, I'm not pouring you another, got it?" A drunken young woman nodded giddily and took off.

"Whoa, someone's mad," Zexion said through a light chuckle.

"I'm not mad, I'm just tired of playing bartender. I wanna have some fun!"

"You're a pledge, this is how it goes."

"Yeah, yeah," Demyx muttered, but smiled at Zexion before ducking down to retrieve more liquor.

As for Roxas, he found himself on top of the world. It seemed that by receiving what he thought to be an important and kick-ass job, his mood elevated enough for him to enjoy himself as he mingled amongst drunken strangers. Being sober at the party was relatively grounding, too; it made everything seem manageable, as opposed to the often overwhelming sensations when one was wasted and surrounded by strangers and loud music. He would never be the sort to move about the crowd in such a way when back home, but he had a new sense of confidence as a pledge of the fraternity. Despite the large amount of people crammed into the frat house, and the large amounts of liquor that had been consumed, the night was mostly quiet on Roxas' front. That was, until he spotted a girl trying to wander upstairs, an area that was strictly off limits.

"Hey!" he called out, pushing his way through the crowd and towards the blonde girl. She didn't seem to hear him, and continued to walk tentatively up the stairs. She didn't stop until Roxas grabbed her arm, causing her to nearly drop the beer she was holding.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, turning around with slight fear in her eyes. She looked young, and was dressed very simply.

"You're not allowed up there," Roxas said in his sternest voice.

"Oh, I-I'm sorry," the girl started. She seemed a bit tipsy. "I didn't know. I was separated from my friend and I was hoping she was up here, I can't find her anywhere else."

Roxas studied her features, her round face and wide blue-violet eyes. She looked a bit frightened, and her arm was limp in his hands. She was very pretty, he noted.

"Are you even eighteen?" he asked, a hint of playfulness in his voice.

"Hey, I will be next month," she replied, a slight smile creeping onto her face as she tucked some stray hair behind her ear.

"Well, then I can't let you keep that," he said with a wink, plucking the beer from her hand and taking a swig. "Come on, you can hang out with me until you find your friend."

"Thanks," the girl said with what could have been a sigh of relief. "I'm Naminé, by the way."

"Roxas. Who's your friend? Maybe I met her already."

"Uhm, her name is Larxene."

"…You're _joking_," Roxas exclaimed.

"You know her?" Naminé asked hopefully.

"Yes. And I'm afraid of her."

"Me too. Oh, but please don't tell her that! She's my Big Sister for the sorority I'm pledging and I may be in a lot of trouble if… she's really quite nice, you know."

Roxas snorted and led the pair through the stifling crowd and towards the last place Roxas had seen Marluxia. When it came to those two, often times your best bet was where you found one, you found the other. Sure enough, Marluxia's 'drunk voice' (which was just a very loud version of his normal voice) could be heard nearby, and Roxas and Naminé soon found themselves face to face with their drunken comrades.

"Larxene!" Naminé cheered, flocking to her side.

"_Man_ you're clingy," the elder blonde remarked, smirking slightly into her drink.

"I'm so glad I don't have to be a Big Brother this year," Marluxia chortled. He looked to the side and saw Roxas giving him a fake-hurt look. "Oh, I didn't mean it like _that,_" he said, extending the 'a'.

As the night died down and the music became a little more like what Zexion liked, and less what the general population liked, people began leaving. It was late, after all (3 am wasn't that late, to some. But to the drunk, passing out steadily grew into a favorable option) and the members of Chi Iota Iota were relieved to eventually find their home nearly empty save a few passed out students here and there.

"Get up," Saix snarled down at a young man who had passed out on a sofa. "Or if not, I have no problem throwing you out."

"I'm tired," Demyx announced on the other side of the room, stretching out and unbuttoning his vest.

"Don't even think about sleep," Zexion murmured, stifling a yawn himself. "Pledges clean up, tradition."

"Can't we clean up tomorrow?" Axel groaned from the table where he was counting money.

"Nope. Get to it," Vexen cut in, shooing Axel away from the cash so he could count it himself.

"It was pretty good up until now," Roxas offered, handing Axel a trash bag.

"Yeah," Axel said with a smile. "It really was."


	6. First Day Blues

OH man, I haven't updated this since… the 16th of December. LAME of me. To be fair, I've been writing this chapter for a few weeks, and only managed to finish it today. It's the thought that counts.

Thanks for the reviews, kiddies. There is ART for this series, by the way. If you would like a link, just ask in your review ;)

**Brotherhood: Chi Iota Iota**

HR

* * *

* * *

"WAKE UP!"

"Nggg!" Axel tried to yell, startling so hard that he fell off of the cot and on top of Roxas. The two blonds on the floor also uttered noises of complete surprise, bleary eyes desperately searching for the source of their wake up call.

"Gerroff," Roxas said, pushing his friend away.

"UP UP UP!" Xemnas boomed through a megaphone.

"_We're_ still sleeping," Marluxia called, poking his head out of his nearby room.

"I DON'T CAAAARE," Xemnas all but sang as the pledges scrambled to their feet. "FIFTY LAPS AROUND THE HOUSE, FRESHMEN!"

The pledges stared for a second before scrambling to look for clothes.

"NO TIME FOR SHOES OR SHIRTS! OUTSIDE, NOW!"

Marluxia called out a derogatory curse and slipped back into his room just as Axel, Roxas, and Demyx jogged past his door and down the stairs, Xemnas barking commands behind them. He marched his pledges out the front door and pressed a button on his megaphone that made the machine squeal out a high-pitched melody of "My Heart Will Go On." It wasn't too bad until it went off key in some parts, making the song even more painful to listen to than usual (1).

"Now, carry this with you as you run. Fifty laps, I'm counting!" Xemnas said, handing Axel the megaphone and shooing them away. He settled himself on the porch, where he had previously left a thermos of coffee and some sudoku puzzles with which to entertain himself.

"It's still dark outside," Demyx said mournfully as they began running, the dewy grass squishing under his bare feet.

"It's six A.M. Only a few hours until classes," Roxas called after looking at his watch. He suppressed a shiver, for he was half naked and the morning chill had not yet melted away into the summer's heat. What a pleasant way to start the first day of classes.

That was sarcasm; they were hilariously miserable.

On lap seven, Xigbar joined the president on the front porch. He took to screaming out obscenities every time the pledges passed the front of the house. His favorites included 'shlong-suckers,' 'saggy teets,' and of course 'fucknuts.' Xemnas did his best to discourage his best friend's antics, but eventually helped him think of new ones for each lap.

On lap 23, a good deal of the Brothers were on the front steps, doing the wave each time the pledges completed another lap. Dirt was plastered to the threesome's feet by now, and the sun rose slowly over the top of the frat house. They were already tired, and not even half-way through.

On lap 37, Axel nearly threw the megaphone in the mud.

"One more to go, come on!" Roxas huffed, sweat pouring off his body. His feet had long ago gone numb from the crisp morning air, but they were almost there. Axel and Demyx were not too far behind him, the megaphone still singing out on full blast. As they reached the steps of the house for the last time, they were cheered by all of the Brothers.

"Hit the showers, ladies," Xemnas said, his smirk in tact. Before they could even scowl at their president, Saix jumped out of nowhere with the garden hose pulled from the side of the house, and blasted the pledges with icy cold water. The only good consequence of this was that the megaphone got destroyed and finally ceased in its ear-splitting screams. Still, Axel, Demyx, and Roxas were soaked to the bone and far from happy.

"They look hilarious," Vexen marveled from the steps.

"They look pathetic," Xaldin replied.

"They could use some breakfast," Lexaeus pitied.

"Get inside and clean off. If I see a drop of mud in the house, you're licking it up. Understand?" Xemnas said, his voice stern. The pledges shivered, nodded, and went to wipe their feet before scrambling upstairs to fight over the shower.

"Are you actually going to cook them breakfast?" Zexion asked, scratching his stomach idly. The sun had risen long ago, and the campus before them was beginning to shine in yet another beautiful summer day. Curse the impending doom of Autumn.

"Of course I am, didn't you see their faces?" Lexaeus replied, turning to go back into the house. The rest of the Brothers subsequently followed; they had to be ready for the first day of classes as well, after all.

"Good eggs, Lex!" Demyx chirped happily, a shower and a lot of hair gel later. "You don't mind if I call you Lex, do ya?"

"That's fine," Lexaeus chuckled.

"You look so dumb when you're eating," Axel said to Demyx, swigging his coffee.

"Look who's talking. You have eggs on your face," Roxas retorted, hair still wet and sticking to his forehead. He had been the last one in the shower, much to his chagrin.

"Now children, play nice," Lexaeus scolded. Just then Zexion entered the kitchen as well, a large bag of books on his back.

"Oh my god, did you make coffee Lexaeus?" he said, walking towards the dripping pot. "I may love you for this."

"Demyx made it, actually."

"Really? I knew I picked you for a reason," Zexion said after filling a solo cup with the steaming beverage, black of course. He mussed Demyx's hair a bit, and then he was off to Organic Chemistry with a wave goodbye.

"We should probably get going soon, too," Roxas said, standing to take his plate to the sink. "When's your first class, Lexaeus?"

"At two."

"Ugh. Being an upperclassman is wonderous," Axel said, taking his plate and Demyx's to the sink as well.

"I paid my dues. Go ahead, I'll wash these," Lexaeus said, rising to shoo the boys away. "After all, you lot probably won't wash them properly."

"Would too!" Axel proclaimed.

"Do you _want_ to wash them?" Roxas said, half laughing as he pushed Axel out of the kitchen.

"Why couldn't Lexaeus be my Big Brother?" Axel mourned as they dragged themselves upstairs.

* * *

The University of Destiny Islands was a large school. In fact, saying such was probably an understatement, and it was almost daunting to be walking the campus on one's first day of classes. Not only were there thousands of students pushing their way to classes, but it seemed that at any given moment, those students were always pushing in the opposite direction you were heading in.

It's always easy to pick out the freshmen; after all, they've got their class schedules clutched so tightly to their chests, surely they'll have an aneurism if they were to lose it. They also still have a little spark of hope in their eyes, something that signals that they sill have their dreams. 99.9 of them will lose that after the first two weeks.

If and when the desired classroom is found, it is often times hard to find a decent seat unless you were there early. Which you weren't because you were lost. But that's okay because you _found_ the place, damnit, and now you're ready to learn. Mmmm the smell of fresh notebook paper, the clicking of new pens, the students all fresh faced and ready for knowledge!

…

Oh. My. _GOD_. How can one person stand there and talk for so long!? I mean, did he even _breathe_ just once in the past hour and a half? I swear the clock is moving backwards, I swear it. Come on come on come on, just a few more minutes… yes! I am OUTTA here! Now all I have to do is find out where the heck my next class is…

The cycle starts over. May god have mercy on your soul.

* * *

"Get off, it's my night for the cot."

"It's not night time yet."

"Roxaaaaaaas. Axel won't get off the cot."

"Get off the cot, Axel."

"Why should I?"

"Because it's my night!"

"It's his night."

"Fine. You're such a baby."

"I had a really hard day!"

"Like I care."

"You're my pledgemate, you're supposed to care."

"Well I don't."

"You're an _ass_."

"You're a cunt."

"Stop it, the both of you!" Roxas finally snapped, slamming his pencil down into his statistics textbook. "I'm never going to get any work done with you shitheads bickering like that."

"Shove off."

"Yeah, shove off."

"Fine!" Roxas said, getting to his feet and walking towards the staircase leading to the third floor, textbook in hand. He took the stairs two at a time, and was soon out of sight. When he reached the top, he walked to Vexen's room and stuck his head inside. Music was playing quietly, and the Brother's back was to the door. Roxas hesitated before clearing his throat.

"Yes?" Vexen swiveled around in his chair, pushing his glasses further up his nose. "Oh, Roxas, what a pleasant surprise. Dare I ask how your first day of classes went?"

"I wouldn't want to depress you," Roxas answered evenly, squaring himself in the doorway. "And yours?"

"Much better than that, thank you. Come in, come in," the elder said, motioning to a nearby chair. "Is there something you want to talk about? And don't look like that, I know this isn't a casual visit."

"Well, I was wondering, actually," Roxas began, walking into the room and sitting in the small plastic chair Vexen had pointed to. He paused to worry his lip, looking back towards the doorway before continuing. "It's just that the guys are being jerks and I need a quiet place to study."

"Homework on the first day? You poor child."

"I'm only two years younger than you."

"Roxas. Do not deny me my simple pleasures and I won't deny you your study space, deal?"

Roxas grinned at that. "Deal," he agreed. "Thank you."

"All in a days work. Now help me move these papers and we can share the desk…"

* * *

"WAKE UP!"

"Ngah!" Demyx all but yelped, falling off the cot and on top of Axel.

"UP UP UP!" Xemnas yelled into a megaphone, free hand motioning for them to stand.

"Where did you get another one of those!?" Axel exclaimed, rolling Demyx off of his body.

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU UNTIL YOU'RE STAAAANDIIIIING!" Xemnas said in the same sing-songy voice he had used the previous day. The pledges noted that it was not possibly as early as they had been woken yesterday (it was light outside), and that their president had been joined by Zexion, Saix, and Vexen this morning. Each were hiding something behind their backs.

"TODAY- OH," Xemnas flipped the megaphone off, cleared his throat, and continued. "Today, we have an absolutely marvelous surprise for you, freshmen. Close your eyes." The pledges looked to each other, mortified. "Close them!" Xemnas barked, prompting the trio to slam their eyes shut.

Rustling could be heard, as well as a snicker. After a few more moments of what had to be awful silence for the pledges, Xemnas spoke again. "Okay, open your eyes. Slowly, don't want to ruin it."

Axel, Roxas, and Demyx creaked their eyes open, all fear and awful expectations written in their faces. What was presented to them by their Big Brothers however, was not something to be feared. Three brand-new navy sweaters with the fraternity's Greek letters in brilliant yellow were being dangled in front of them.

"Whoa!!" they chorused out together, taking the offered clothing and inspecting them further. Axel immediately slipped his on over his head, pleased to find it fit quite nicely. Demyx followed suit, and Roxas stared at his a bit longer before trying it on as well.

"You have to admit it suits them," Zexion said with a light chuckle. Saix rolled his eyes, but was smirking as well.

"Today is going to be awesome," Demyx said, slapping Roxas and Axel high-fives.

* * *

"Today was not awesome," Demyx groaned, dropping his messenger bag on the floor by Axel's feet.

"At least the sweater looks good," the redhead offered, pointing up at Demyx with his pencil.

"I don't like music theory," Demyx continued, unstrapping his guitar from his body and placing it gently against the wall. "Why does it matter how I play the stuff, as long as I can play it, right?"

"You're barking up the wrong tree, dude," Roxas said, putting down his copy of _The Odyssey_ and rubbing his eyes.

"You're going to college to get more knowledge!" Axel recited jovially. Demyx gave him a bitter look before sighing and sticking his face in his hands.

"Not to mention it's a three-hour-long class. _Three hours_, guys."

"Brutal."

"Killer."

"I _know_, right? I hate life."

"Aw, c'mon," Axel said, rising from the floor. His notebook (covered in doodles) fell to the floor, forgotten. "Let's go hit a bar for happy hour and forget all about music theory."

"…It's a Tuesday," Roxas said.

"It's _Ten Dollar_ Tuesday," Axel corrected him, slinging a much-needed arm over Demyx's shoulders. "Five shots of anything for ten dollars over at the pub by south campus.(2)"

"How do you know that?" Demyx asked, apparently already enamored by the idea.

"Saix told me. So it is now," Axel paused to look at his watch, "Five-fifteen. Happy hour ends at seven, so we should head over. I've got twenty bucks and a pocket full of dreams, boys."

"Yeah, let's go!" Demyx cried out, punching the air.

"No way," Roxas said, pretending to be re-interested in his book.

"Oh come on!" Demyx said.

"No. I've got work to do."

"Roxas," Axel said puffing out his chest. "What sort of world would we live in if everyone just did work all the time? Did our fore-Brothers build this wonderful fraternity on principles such as 'work hard' and 'do your best?' No, they fucking didn't. We are standing on the very foundations of 'go out drinking on a school night' and 'it's okay if you sleep through your first class.'" Roxas looked up at him then, annoyed, but Axel continued. "What kind of pledges would we be to not heed such principles? Awful ones, that's what. So I ask you now Roxas, as your friend and pledgemate… are you with us? Are you with your Brothers?"

"You should be a theater major," Demyx marveled.

"I could also cry, do you think that would help?" Axel said, grinning.

"Don't embarrass yourself," Roxas cut in, throwing his book on the cot.

"So you're coming?" the other two asked in unison.

"Well I'm sure as hell not gonna sit here while you two have all the fun," Roxas said, swinging his legs around to the floor and practically jumping up to join them.

Axel immediately swung his other arm around Roxas' shoulders, and with his two friends tucked safely under him, he led them down the stairs and out of the frat house. It just wouldn't have been the same without Roxas, he supposed. Really, this was the first time that the three of them had gone on an outing together, and they were doing it just as future Brothers of a fraternity should.

The bartender checked IDs. In a pub so close to a large college campus, they were covering their own butts, really. They were all quite legal (3), and even though the bartender gave Roxas a funny look, they all got in and sat themselves in a small booth.

"Kamikaze shots to start, no doubt!" Axel cheered, the idea of being in a bar sending energetic thrills through him.

"Have you ever had one of those?" Roxas asked after Axel had swaggered over to the bar to order.

"Yeah, they're tasty and not too strong," Demyx said, giving Roxas a reassuring pat on the back.

It's really not clever to consume a lot of alcohol in a short amount of time. Yes, it will get you plenty drunk and if that is your objective, then it would seem like a great idea. Unfortunately, it is also the best way to get sick. It's all fun and games until someone pukes their brains out.

Roxas stuck to the five shots for ten dollars. Demyx stuck to seven shots for 16 dollars. Axel, on the other hand, used his twenty-dollar bill to get himself 10 shots in rather rapid succession. Between the three of them, there was a wide range of different liquors and shots and the collection of glasses was a sight to behold.

"Man. I can't believe it's only seven," Demyx slurred as they left the bar after paying their tab. Usually he wouldn't feel so absolutely shitfaced, but he had downed his shots in a little over an hour.

"It's barely dark. Good!" Roxas said with a goofy smile. He was technically the most sober, but that still didn't make him truly sober. "It'll be easy to get back home."

"My stomach, guys," Axel groaned.

"That was a really good idea. I feel a lot better," Demy chirped happily, tugging the cords of his Chi Iota Iota hoodie.

"I don't," Axel said.

"Yeah, it was a good idea. And it's still early so we can. We can. Uhm. Be okay," Roxas said, laughing at himself a bit. He was half leaning against Demyx, who now placed his arm around the shorter blonde's shoulders.

"An early night never _killed_ anyone, you know?" Demyx said.

"Guys," Axel called pathetically, louder than before. The other two turned to look at the redhead, whose face was turning a bit green.

"Uh oh," Demyx said.

"Not again," Roxas groaned.

"Nuughh-" Axel gurgled, bending over and puking. Roxas and Demyx watched with a sort of morbid curiosity, making faces and not really sure whether to touch him or not.

"He drinks too much for someone so skinny," Demyx murmured to the shorter blond before tiptoeing towards Axel and rubbing his back. Roxas just sort of stared at the two of them with his head tilted to the side until Axel straightened and announced he was ready to walk back. To his credit, they made it back to the house before he puked again.

"Here," Roxas said, putting a large glass of water on the countertop next to the toilet. He also had one for himself and Demyx, but left them on the other side of the sink. Axel looked up from the toilet, bleary aqua eyes focusing on the glass of water.

"Thanks Rox," he slurred, grabbing it.

"Small sips, dude," Demyx said with a tired smile. He took this moment to pull Axel's red hair into a makeshift ponytail. "Oiy, Roxas. You didn't close the door."

"Sorry." Roxas used his foot to close the door, shielding Axel from any passing Brothers. They had missed dinner and would have to fend for themselves, but it was still early and everyone who was in the house was actively awake. He was actually surprised no one had heard Axel yet. Maybe they had and just chose to ignore it.

"You sober yet?" Demyx asked suddenly, leaning against the wall behind him. He looked kind of tired, and his hair was drooping.

"Pretty much. Why?" the shorter replied.

"Because I'm not feeling good either and I want to lie down. You think you can watch Axel?"

"'M not a baby," the redhead pointed out from the floor. "Meyd. Demyx. Tell him I'm not."

"He's not," the musician said to amuse his friend.

"I got it, you go lie down," Roxas said through a strange half-grin, handing Demyx his glass of water on his way out.

"Thanks, man. See you."

Roxas took the opportunity to sit down on the tile floor, his own water in hand. Glancing at Axel, he was torn between amusement and disgust. The latter because it smelled like puke and no matter how much you like a guy, being around him puking can be stomach-churning. The former because really, Axel looked pretty funny like this. He was wearing a pouty sulk and staring at his now half-empty glass of water with vague disgust. Not to mention he had christened his new frat sweater with vomit.

"Hey buddy," Roxas cooed. "Wanna take off that sweater so it doesn't get ruined?"

"Okay," Axel replied pitifully, setting his water aside and trying to remove the navy thing from his body. He got a bit stuck and Roxas had to help him, but in the end they managed to remove it. "I'm all, like, wobbily."

"You're pretty drunk. How's your stomach?"

"Better, thankyouverymuch. But my body is all _gross_." The redhead gestured to his skin, making a disgusted face and wiggling his fingers as if to say 'icky.' "I want to shower."

"You'll slip and die. Or pass out and drown. Either way, I have no place to hide the body."

"F-funny. C'mon, I'll feel better if I shower." Axel said, pushing himself up off the floor as if already decided, despite the fact that he still seemed to be asking Roxas for permission.

"Fine," Roxas sighed, heaving himself off the floor as well. "But I'm breaking down the door if you take longer than ten minutes." He moved to leave, but thin fingers wound themselves around his arm and prevented him from going further.

"Stay."

"…"

"So, y'know, I don't die. I mean, you don't have to. But I don't mind if you stay."

The two sort of stood there are stared at each other for what felt like the longest of times. Roxas' forearm was still grasped in Axel's spindly fingers through this, but neither seemed to think that was remotely strange. Or even if they did, they didn't move from that position. Roxas was almost sure there was something unreadable behind Axel's groggy drunk-man features, but he refused to dwell on it.

"Fine, hurry up," the blond said quietly, and his arm was released. Axel began to undress right in front of him and he politely turned away, not breathing again until he heard the unsteady climb past the curtains and into the shower. He closed the lid of the toilet and sat on top of it after the water had been turned on, earning a pleased sigh from Axel.

"Hey Roxas? Who do you think invented shampoo?"

"Just get on with it, Axel." The noise of the shower prevented the redhead from hearing Roxas' amused laughter.

Meanwhile, outside of the bathroom, Demyx was sprawled out across the blankets on the floor in a disgraceful manner. His head was pounding, and he was pretty sure he didn't want to take four straight shots of tequila that fast ever again.

"Alright there?" Luxord drawled out, having spotted Demyx's prostrate form. He was leaning over the pledge now, and he looked quite smug.

"Yes, fine," Demyx said with a hint of a smile. "Just under the weather."

"Drunk?"

"Bingo."

"Ah. Ten Dollar Tuesday strikes again," Luxord mused, leaning against a nearby wall.

"At least I'm not thinking about my music theory class anymore." He immediately smacked his forehead. "Oh wait, now I am."

"I can't believe you lot are still sleeping out here."

"What else are we supposed to do?" Demyx asked, blocking his eyes from the too-bright lights of the hallway.

Luxord looked to his left. He looked to his right. He leaned over Demyx, who didn't know if he should be afraid or not.

"Haven't you noticed that there are three empty bedrooms on this floor?"

* * *

* * *

– My flatmate had one of these last year. It was horrid and hilarious.

– Yes, places like this exist and they are glorious.

– The drinking age in this story is 18. Like it is in Europe.

– REVIEW :D :D :D


	7. In it to Win it

Hey gaaaiiis D:

So I've had this chapter for a litle while, but completely forgot to upload it. I know, I suck. Also, I think the chapter alerts was broken last time AGAIN, so make sure you caught chapter 6, yaa? Yaa.

**Brotherhood: Chi Iota Iota**

* * *

* * *

Zexion was mildly intimidated. Really, he had no reason to be. He was a Brother of Chi Iota Iota and could enjoy all the privileges that accompanied such a status. But in reality, he stood at five feet seven inches to his Little Brother's five feet ten. And Demyx was using all three inches to his advantage, arms crossed in front of his chest while he puffed up like a blowfish. Thus, Zexion was rightfully intimidated.

"Explain."

"You cannot talk to me like that."

"I've been sharing the _floor_ with Axel and Roxas."

"Demyx, do not push me. I will not accept that tone."

"You could have told me!"

"No, I couldn't have. You were supposed to suffer out there, it's part of pledging," Zexion scowled. "And don't talk to me like I owe you something. I don't."

"B-but-"

"Save it. I'm your Big Brother, not some, some _in man_ for you to leech off of." The second he finished speaking, Zexion regretted being so harsh. Demyx's arms went sort of limp by his sides and he looked hurt. _I've kicked a puppy,_ he thought briefly. _I've kicked a puppy and I'm a terrible person._

"I'm not leeching," Demyx said quietly, though his gaze remained somewhat still. "I just thought you would tell me because we're… well, we're friends, aren't we?"

"Don't ask stupid things like that."

"So we're not."

"No, Dem… we obviously _are_, which is why the question was so unnecessary."

"Oh."

"And I thought it would thusly be just as obvious that I didn't tell you about the rooms because I couldn't. It would have compromised my position," Zexion explained smoothly, his aggravation level lowering somewhat. "I'm still surprised Luxord said that…"

"Don't tell, I didn't think he'd get in trouble. He just wanted to help-"

"I don't think he wanted to, actually. He probably wanted to torture you." The blond looked vaguely confused, so he continued. "Now, even though you know about the rooms, you still cannot move into them. We weren't planning on that for awhile longer, you see?"

Demyx slumped. "He's mean."

"It's kind of funny," Zexion said, smiling apologetically. "But listen, we can speak about this later. If I don't get dressed now, I'll be late for class."

Demyx rolled his eyes, muttering something about microbiology being boring, and leaving the room. He walked out into the hallway of the second floor, past what he now knew to be an empty bedroom, and into the area he shared with Axel and Roxas. The two were currently in the closet-room (Axel nursing a head ache and wincing every time Roxas made a noise), going through their things and getting ready to face the day.

"What's wrong, Demyx?" Roxas asked suddenly, looking up from his pile of shirts.

"Uh…" The tall blond faltered under the gaze of his comrades, realizing he had been staring off into space. He supposed he _could_ tell them about the empty rooms. But chances were that would only lead to unfortunate consequences and bad tempers all around. They were going to get their rooms eventually, whether they knew about them or not. Why make them suffer in the meantime? "Nothing," he said finally. "Just tired, I guess."

Roxas shrugged and pulled out a shirt, sniffing it cautiously before nodding in approval and swinging it over his shoulder. Axel dropped his shoes and pulled a face when they hit the ground with a loud _smack_. Demyx smiled because really, he was growing terribly fond of his friends and the thought of them living in separate rooms was almost disappointing. Almost.

* * *

"Psst," Xaldin hissed out. He was ignored, of course. Honestly, he couldn't see what Xemnas what writing notes about; the professor was going off on a tangent and Xaldin had lost interest about 13 minutes prior. "Psst," he tried again.

Xemnas turned to glare briefly at his friend, flicking him off under the desk. Xaldin rolled his eyes and tore a piece of notebook paper to scribble on. When he was done, he passed it in a very non-discreet manner.

**I think we should move them tonight**.

The President looked down at the paper and scowled, scribbling a response.

_Passing notes? Are we twelve? And anyway, it's only been three weeks._

**We only stayed three weeks when we pledged.**

_They're staying five weeks._

**That's hilarious. But why?**

_Because I said so, now leave me alone._

**Roxas almost pulled his back at combat tryouts because he's sleeping on the floor most nights. I'm not letting my best rookie maul himself before the season starts.**

_I don't really care. I'm ignoring your next note so don't bother._

Xaldin re-wrote his note four times before Xemnas read it. For the record, he bounced the third one off of the President's head and nearly got kicked out of lecture for laughing.

**Four weeks instead of five.**

_You're obnoxious and have no say in the matter_.

**I'll mix my laundry with yours**.

_You would not._

**Can and will. Jockstrap all over your things.**

…_I hate you._

* * *

Being undeclared wasn't that bad, Roxas thought as he turned another page of his book. He had to complete the core courses anyway, and they were a good way to fill up his credits while he decided what the hell he wanted to do with his life. So what if Demyx and Axel had already chosen majors, it didn't make him nervous. At least that's what he told himself while flipping through Plato's _Symposium_, back to the wall. Across the hallway from him was the cot, where Demyx had perched himself and was strumming some chords on his guitar. It was a slow, steady rhythm and Roxas found it to be calming. Axel was nowhere to be found despite the fact that his classes had let out an hour ago.

"Ugh," Demyx proclaimed after messing up the fingering on a chord. He took a pencil from behind his ear, circled something on the book he was referencing, and played the chord again. Correctly this time. Roxas snickered. "Quiet, you."

"Hmmm," Roxas hummed, smiling to himself. "I like your music."

"Oh? Do you play anything?" Demyx asked, plucking out some notes as he turned slightly to regard his friend.

"Hahah, no way," the other laughed, as if the idea were completely ludicrous. "I, uh. Sing, though. Used to."

"No shit?"

"No shit."

"Interesting. I'll keep that in mind."

"As will I," Axel said from the top of the stairs, having just arrived. He grinned like an idiot, approaching the shared hallway and dropping his backpack onto the floor at Roxas' feet. The blond groaned. "Cheer up. Xaldin said he has a surprise for us."

"We should be worried," Roxas snapped. He had been spending more time with Xaldin recently during combat practice, and the man could be utterly ruthless. Of course he was nice, but could turn exceedingly sour (read: into a raving lunatic) when practice was not going his way.

"Nonsense," Axel quickly retorted, flopping down on the cot next to Demyx. The musician glared, having been dislodged from his otherwise perfectly flowing song.

"Let me guess," Roxas continued, lowering his book. "He was grinning with only one half of his mouth, and licked his lips after each sentence."

"…Roxas, how did you know-?"

"We're _fucked_."

"Shhhh!" Demyx hissed, head tilting up at the sound of heavy footsteps on the move. They walked down the parallel hallway directly above the pledges, and soon they could be heard marching down the stairs. The three freshmen froze where they sat, watching helplessly as Xaldin descended the stairs.

"I," the upperclassman stated, gesturing to himself, "am your savior." Xaldin approached the trio, who seemed unsure of what emotion to express. "Thanks to me, this is happening now. You may kiss my boots later. Follow me." He turned and walked towards the staircase leading to the first floor. The pledges dropped what they were doing and bounded off behind the Brother.

"Told you," Axel whispered as Xaldin led them through the first floor.

"Hey, I _hope_ you're right," Roxas hissed back, but knew it couldn't be possible if they were now heading into the basement. A few days ago they had been rounded into it for some 'pin the tail on the freshman'. And a few days before that, they were forced to wrestle each other into the ground before they were allowed dinner. Even then, their meals had been drugged and they woke up the next morning in their underwear, with strange sharpie markings all over their bodies.

The Brothers were having altogether too much fun at their expense. But… nothing could really be done about that at the moment, he supposed.

Upon reaching the basement, a large table with countless solo cups came into view. A few of the stray Brothers were perched around the main room, including a grumpy President. Saix sat next to him, an eerie smirk on his face as he whispered things into the elder's ear. Eventually, Xemnas seemed to perk up just as the pledges were lined up in front of the table.

"Alright," Xaldin announced, pacing on the other side of the table. "We filled all these cups about one third with some dark beer, in case you couldn't tell. There are about 40 or so cups, give or take a few. Now, at the bottom of three of them," he held up three fingers to emphasize this, "lies a room key. Each one corresponds to a bedroom on the second floor."

Demyx smiled and looked around for Zexion. His Big Brother was not downstairs, and he sulked for a fraction of a second before catching the beaming smiles of his comrades. Rooms. Their own rooms! No more fighting over the stupid cot, no more piling their things in the tiny closet! Four walls and a door, all to themselves.

"The rules about this are as follows: any cup you touch, you must empty before searching another," Xaldin continued. "If you find a key, you can keep looking for another and then have a choice of rooms. Every man for himself. Speed is key. No vomiting."

The three freshmen threw their glances over the rows of cups, seemingly trying to decide where they thought keys would be hidden. Each one seemed as likely as the next, and if one listened hard enough, they could probably hear three separate sighs of 'oh shit, this is not going to end well.'

And, of course, things like this rarely do.

"Oh. Wear these. You'll need them," the upperclassman finished, producing three baby bibs and distributing them. "Ready?" The trio quickly tied the bibs around their necks, earning some amused remarks from the surrounding Brothers. "Set?" hands were in front of them, ready to strike at the first cup. Worried expressions were gone; it was game time. "Go!"

In the first instant, Axel, Demyx, and Roxas had grabbed a cup from random positions on the table. Each gave a little shake to feel for a key before realizing they were not so lucky as to score on their first cup, and gulping down the carbonated beverage as fast as they could. As a whole, they were generally neat about it, and soon they were off to their second cup with as much determination as one could have. Room. Their own room.

"If I remember correctly," Luxord said with his eyes still fixed on the rushees, "You choked rather magnificently on a key when we rushed."

"Please do not remind me," Lexaeus said, but a grin spread his lips anyway. If _he_ remembered correctly, he had also found two keys while Luxord had found none. Thusly, he had chosen a slightly bigger room that year. One point, of many, to him.

Demyx was on cup number four. Axel was on cup number four. Roxas was, impressively, on cup number five. All of their bibs and shirts were sprayed with wanton beer as they desperately searched for their keys.

"There are…. Keys in here…. Right?" Roxas huffed after his fifth was done.

"Of course there are," Xemnas, who was now watching closely over the proceedings, replied. "Why in the world would we try and trick you?"

"Cause… pig fuckers…" Demyx heaved and took another cup. Axel choked a little, spitting beer on himself.

"Okay, I'm here!" Zexion announced as he barreled down the stairs. He still had a pair of laboratory goggles strapped to his head, pushing his hair back from his face for once. "They still going?"

"Yes," Xaldin said calmly, and the other let out a sigh of relief.

"Good. Ten dollars on Demyx."

This time, it was Demyx who choked on his drink.

"You can't be serious," Saix called over. "_My_ pledge is faster than yours and you know it."

"Your pledge pukes easily and is way too thin to carry his liquor properly," Zexion quickly countered. "But if you're willing to put your money on him…?"

"You're damn right I'm willing to put my money on him! Twenty dollars on the redhead!"

"Thirty."

"Fine, _thirty_."

"Gentlemen," Vexen interrupted, rising from his seat and fishing out his wallet. "May I point out that it is, in fact, _my_ pledge who has downed the most beer thusfar? Thirty on Roxas."

"I'll second that," Xemnas called, ushering Vexen towards him.

"Oh no, not you too!" Saix mourned with a strange smirk.

"Another thirty on Demyx," Lexaeus said, walking to the group now forming around the table.

"And another," Luxord chirped.

"Hah," Zexion said.

"Forty on Axel!" Marluxia cheered, raising the stakes. Saix pulled him into a strange half-hug and glared at the competition.

"Forty for Roxas," Xaldin added.

"I'm broke," Xigbar finally remarked as the others started throwing money on the beer-soaked table. "But all my would-be money is on Demyx, hands down." And for good measure, he threw some pocket lint on the table.

"Told you, Saix. My pledge will win this."

"Half of it is luck, my friend." He snapped his head to Axel, who was still gulping ferociously. "You'd better get lucky, bitchface."

The pledges, who had been ignored until now, were giving their Brothers weary glances over their beer cups. They were growing full and slowing down, and the added pressure of loads of money on their shoulders did nothing to steady their nerves. They thought this was just a stupid test to get their keys, not an all out competition. The Brothers were now surrounding their table, shouting out cheers to the three and slamming their fists on the tabletop in beat with their chants.

"Go! Chug!"

"C'mon, faster!"

"Look, half of it is on him instead of in him! Disqualified!"

"He's not disqualified, you desperate loser."

"Is too!"

"Ahhh!" Roxas garbled into his cup. Which one it was, he'd lost count. But as soon as he had tipped it back, something heavy had slid forward and hit him in the teeth. He removed the cup from his mouth and, without thinking, stuck his hand into it to retrieve what he revealed to be a silver key. _Bingo_.

"Roxas found one!" Xemnas boomed, slapping Vexen and Xaldin loud, smacking high fives.

"I found one!" Roxas slurred, half of his face still shimmering from the liquid.

"Ughhh, nooooo," Saix cried out and watched as the three winning Brothers began peeling their cash off of the sticky table.

"C'mon, we'll still beat Demyx," Marluxia cheered. "Come on, Axel! Chug it!"

"You know, Roxas… you can keep looking for another key," Vexen yelled out above the resumed chanting.

"No way!" Roxas said and burped loudly, laughing despite himself and fingering his key. _His _key, all his. He took a moment to glance at his two friends, who were paying him no attention at all and seemed to have grown more desperate in their search. Not that he was exactly expecting a congratulations from them in the middle of the event, especially when he was their competition. But still, now that his personal frenzy was over, he took to slurring cheers for the both of them.

Demyx was the next to find a key, and Zexion whooped in a very un-Zexion-like manner. Chants of 'take that, Saix!' were hurled across the table, and Demyx stared at his key dumbly for what had to be two minutes straight. Saix and Marluxia comforted each other and began arguing that their pledge would have won if it were based on speed. Poor Axel took a break from his drinking and groaned loudly, having counted and knew he had consumed more beer than Demyx. It really was luck.

"Go Axel!" Roxas called again, swinging his arm in the air. "You can do it!"

"It's over already," Axel said, speech disconnected somewhat.

"Find your key, Axel," Xaldin said darkly, pointing to a cup.

"Y-yeah. Find it before I do," Demyx slurred, grabbing for another cup.

"Hah, or me!" Roxas joined in, still having consumed the least amount of beer, and reaching for a cup. This caused Axel to scramble forward and reach for the one Xaldin had pointed to, taking it greedily and shaking it next to his ear. It made a pleasant clunking noise.

"Not a chance," He said, accidentally spitting before he downed the cup in one go. He resurfaced with his room key safely between his teeth.

"At least he got one," Luxord tried to joke despite the fact that he had just lost his money.

"Of course he got one, he's my pledge!" Saix called out. "You all would have been _dead_ if it were purely on consumption and you know it!"

"Yes, sure thing. Loser," Lexaeus teased.

"Hey-"

"Can we go see our rooms?" Roxas asked loudly, trying to make himself heard. Unfortunately for him, arguments and insults were still being hurtled across the table, and a few of the Brothers had picked up some of the leftover beer cups for themselves. "Hey!" he garbled out again, but was ignored.

"C'mon, lessgo have a lookie," Demyx said to him, lengthening his consonants. Before the shorter could reply, he was being dragged away from the quarrelling Brothers. Which was a good thing, because beer was starting to fly. Honestly, couldn't they solve anything without spilling/throwing/expelling things on each other?

Axel led the way out of the basement and to the second floor, where the pledges found themselves acting very foolish while trying to match up their keys to the proper doors. It took a lot of trial and error before any of them correctly unlocked anything, and by the time they had stumbled into their rooms, the consumed beer had taken full effect.

"How'rewegonnamoveourstuff?" Axel slurred all at once, swaying slightly in front of his room. It had a bed, a dresser, a small closet, and even a desk with bookshelves. He had bragged about it until seeing that Roxas and Demyx' rooms were equipped with the exact same amenities.

"Juss… toss it in?" Demyx suggested. He seemed mostly sober, damn him. He must have super powers, Axel thought. That was obviously the only logical explanation.

And thusly began the most ridiculous, drawn out, drunken, lazy, sloppy, clumsy, noisy, stupid, shoddy, bizarre, and overall over-dramatic move of the century.

* * *

Despite how awesome he was trying to feel, Roxas could not fall asleep. His room was nice, yes, and certainly comfortable for one person. But he continued to toss and turn, head swimming and stomach uncomfortably full of beer. And shit, he had to take a leak, _again_, and he groaned as he forced himself out of bed. His clock said 2:41 AM.

He padded through the littered floor, stepping on many of his own belongings that had been unceremoniously dumped there a few hours before. It was a miracle he didn't trip and break his neck, and he safely made it out the door. At first he went the wrong way, still unused to his new location, but he found the toilet and released more toxins from his body. After sipping down some water from the sink, he went back into the hallway and stopped.

"Demyx?" he asked, squinting in the dark. "What are you doing out here?

"Er, hey…" Demyx said, turning to face his friend. "I couldn't really sleep. It's uh-- heh-- sorta quiet." He was standing by the cot, which had been abandoned in the hallway.

"I couldn't sleep either," Roxas added, sensing a sort of embarrassment in the other's voice. He sighed and approached the cot. "Guess it's sort of weird not listening to Axel snore after being around it for a month.

"I don't snore," Axel piped in, leaning out of his door. His demeanor indicated that he had been awake as well. "And what are you doing out here?"

"Couldn't sleep," Roxas replied, sitting on the cot with a loud creak. Demyx nodded solemnly and sat down as well. Axel sighed and walked to join them, plopping himself down on the other side of Roxas. The cot groaned loudly, unable to handle the weight otherwise.

"So uhm. This may sound weird," Demyx started after a long pause of silence. "But. Do you guys want to come sleep in my room tonight?"

"That's pretty gay, Dem," Axel teased.

"I know," the dirty blond replied.

"I'll do it," Roxas volunteered.

"Wait. Why his room? Why not my room?"

"Your room has already managed to smell like cheese," Roxas shot back.

"That's because I have a cheese air freshener."

"…What?"

"My room is the biggest, by a little," said Demyx. "And it's kinda clean."

"Fine," Axel sighed, grinning and standing from the cot.

"Yeah?" Demyx said hopefully, matching the grin and rising as well.

"Yeah. Why not? One more night on the floor won't kill me. And then I get to use Roxas for a pillow."

"Fat chance," the said blond scoffed.

"Is that a challenge? Because I will cuddle your little face so hard that your head explodes."

"Don't call him little," Demyx warned.

"I'm not little!" Roxas shot, standing off the cot to (dis)prove his point. "And I'm bringing the cot with me, so you can sleep on the floor alone!"

"Hey, now that's harsh," the redhead said, fighting back a fit of laughter.

"I'll help, Rox," Dem said, picking up the tail end of the cot and helping the other to move it into his bedroom, Axel trailing half-dejectedly behind.

When the lights were off and the doors were closed, the three pledges drifted off to sleep in Demyx's room. At some point after falling asleep, Roxas felt a heavy body move onto the cot with him, draping a lanky arm around his torso. The blond mumbled something incoherent, tossed the arm away, and promptly fell back asleep before he could argue further.

* * *

Please review :3 


	8. Fight for Your Right TO PARRRRTY!

Chapter eight. Who knew it would get this long?

WARNING for this chapter: violence and gore.

Also, like I said last time... there is ART for this series. Ask for a link in your reply and I'll gladly give it to you

**Brotherhood: Chi Iota Iota**

* * *

* * *

"Smile."

"I'm trying, it's really, really difficult."

"How so?"

"Erm. Because you're shaving my legs."

Larxene sighed and kicked Demyx's legs further apart. The boy yelped as his feet nearly slid out from under him, gripping onto the slick shower wall for support. Nearby, snickering could be heard.

"Just be grateful it's me doing this and not Marls, okay?" Larxene said, sliding the razorblade up the inside of Demyx's left calf. "And smile."

"I'm _trying_-"

"She's right, you know," Marluxia said from his position on top of the bathroom counter. Below him, Roxas and Axel sat on the floor, putting pressure on various nicks and cuts on their freshly shaven legs. "I tried to shave my own for a show once and nearly passed out from blood loss. Now I get Lark to do them for me."

"Don't _call_ me that!" she threatened from the shower, cutting Demyx under his knee and earning a wail. Honestly, he was being such a baby. Larxene would have left a long time ago if it weren't for all the nice things Marluxia had promised her for her willing assistance.

"Can you remind me why you're doing this to us?" Axel asked from the floor. He had managed to smear a bit of blood from a cut onto his cheek, and otherwise looked remarkably pathetic.

"My extras called in sick and I need replacements for marking tonight. You'll be in tights, and it's unsightly and uncomfortable while unshaven."

"That's bull," Axel challenged from the floor.

"Perhaps. But you don't really have a choice, do you pledgy?"

"We're aware, Marluxia. Thanks," Roxas piped in, sticking toilet paper on a nick. Axel reached out to touch the blond's smooth leg, but his hand was batted away easily. A knock was heard at the door.

"Come in," Marluxia called, still grinning maniacally.

"Oh, uhm," Naminé said through a crack in the door. "I brought you the towel you asked for, Larxene." Her thin arm stuck through the door, towel draped over her hand, and the rest of her body purposely remaining outside of the bathroom.

"Why don't you come inside, Naminé?" Marluxia cooed, his smile growing more feral.

"Oh, that's alright-"

"C'mon. Hang out with us a little," the Brother insisted, tugging the smaller body into the bathroom by her arm. Naminé came to a flushed halt in front of Axel and Roxas, taking one look at them sitting in their underwear and decidedly snapping her eyes back up to the wall.

"Hey Naminé," Roxas mumbled, head hung low.

"Hi Roxas. H-how are you?" she replied sweetly.

"I've been better…"

"Hi!" Axel exclaimed, jumping up from the floor. "I'm Axel. Nice to meet ya!" Naminé and Roxas looked a bit mortified, Marluxia sniggered, and Axel was officially as asshole for trying to embarrass the poor girl.

"It's a pleasure, Axel," Naminé managed.

"Hey Naminé!" Larxene called from the shower. "Wanna help me shave this kid's legs?"

"Not really…" The girl seemed to be growing redder by the second.

"I could always force you," the Sister reminded her pledge.

"Please don't," Demyx and Naminé said at the same time.

"Now now," Marluxia said, still smirking like an ass. "Wouldn't want to upset my actors any further."

"I think it's a little late for that," Larxene said. Demyx yelped again. "I said _smile_."

* * *

The tights had been totally unnecessary, the pledges decided amongst themselves on the walk home. They had to stand under the hot, blinding theater lights for nearly three hours as Marluxia blocked out his scenes, clad in thin black tights and a similar shirt as they were instructed to shuffle around the stage. While it was true that they would have been scratching at their legs the entire time had they not been shaven, it still didn't banish the thought from their minds that Larxene bringing a sharp blade so close to their nether regions wasn't by any means a good idea. Not to mention that men were supposed to wear _thongs_ with tights, but they had adamantly drawn the line there. Now they shivered in the cooling night's air as they scurried to the frat house, ignoring the rude remarks and cat calls from people they passed.

"Fuckin' cold," Axel complained. "I think my cock has retreated back into my body."

"Shut up, w-we're nearly there," Roxas stuttered, pulling a face at his friend's lewd comment. Truth be told, the tights left little to the imagination, and the blond found himself subconsciously checking his own situation as they grew closer to the house. Ugh. How embarrassing…

"That was so fucking unfair," the taller one continued.

"It could have been worse," Demyx offered, hugging himself from the cold. "We didn't have to do much but stand there. Did you see how those other people were dancing? The theater confuses me."

They rounded the house and shuffled inside, slamming the front door behind them and basking in the relative warmth inside. As if waiting for them, Xemnas called to the trio from the long dining room table, where he sat behind an array of papers. The pledges, used to being ordered around by now, obeyed with little more than inaudible sighs, cranky at not being able to change from the costumes.

"Your membership fees are due," the President said evenly, shuffling loose papers into a neat pile. "Have you three discussed a possible fundraiser like I requested last week?"

"No," Axel blurted. Demyx elbowed him in the side.

"I didn't think so," Xemnas continued, unfazed. "I gathered a few suggestions for you, taken from the past few years. The most popular method is a bake sale, but perhaps something less orthodox will spark your interest." He passed them a neatly written list.

"Does begging for money count?" Axel asked, not too keen on baking anything.

"Ooooh, street performance? Can we please?" Demyx asked the other two after scanning the paper. And a debate was immediately sparked, each pledge pointing to the list and arguing a point until the sheet was threatening to rip in their grasps.

Xemnas shook his head, gathered his papers, and rose from the table. He didn't want to listen to them argue, just hear their pick when they'd decided. After all, Gamma Iota Iota was holding their annual 'Midterms are Almost Over' party, and he needed to change. The entire fraternity was planning on going, and he was looking forward to attending a party that he didn't have to plan. He also had a feeling that his pledges would enjoy themselves, seeing as they could relax and not work the party. They admittedly deserved a break.

As long as they changed out of those tights… what was _that_ all about, anyway?

* * *

The Brothers and pledges went to the party as a group, walking towards Sorority Row with a buzz of excitement. Gamma Iota Iota was blessed with a large house, and threw wicked parties matched only by their brother-fraternity. As the group neared their destination, a low roar of music and voices could be heard. Students were flooding the house, pouring out and in and already making the situation seem alive and fantastically fun. They stepped through the front door, paid, got their hand stamped (with a lip-stamp, of course) and the group of twelve split in different directions. Some of the older Brothers met up with some friends and acquaintances, some went straight to slurp shots from a very pretty girl's stomach, and the pledges hit the beer keg. After all, it was their first Sorority party, and while having beer before hard liquor usually made one puke, they didn't want to get pissed too quickly.

Roxas sipped his beer and surveyed the crowd before him. He wondered to himself if most of the people inside were from Greek life, or if there was a mix of regular students in there as well. It was honestly difficult to tell, aside from a pledge here or there from another fraternity. Roxas silently thanked Xemnas for giving them the night off after watching a pledge he didn't know being forced to scream out a rather ear-splitting rendition of 'Mary Had a Little Lamb.'

The house grew more crowded and noisier, and a promise of sticking together was slurred into his ear by Axel. Roxas agreed of course, because being left alone in a party as crazy as this one would suck. Everyone seemed busy with someone else, or in a group, or doing something illegal. Roxas went to take a leak, and walked in on a group of people snorting coke lines off the toilet lid. He tried to go get another beer, but a few girls were making out in a strange mass of limbs, boys surrounding them and egging them on, and preventing him from reaching the kegs. Even when he followed Axel outside for a smoke, watching Demyx drunkenly have one as well and doing his best not to lecture them on how gross the habit was, people were running around like lunatics.

Maybe the fact that he was sorta drunk made it seem overwhelming. After all, any party of this scale that he had previously attended had been in his own house, where he had been the enforcer and sober enough to handle the situation. Not to mention he had been in his own territory and had known where his Brothers and friends were at any given moment. This party just seemed like a mosh pit, and he felt guilty for wanting to leave.

He didn't, of course, and instead found himself dragged to watch a game of beer pong. Axel and Demyx were taking on two pledges from another frat, and the entire match turned into valiant cries of each team protecting their house's honor. In case the competitors weren't drunk enough already, chugging down even more beer after their opponents landed the ping pong in a cup sure as hell did the trick. Each cup had been filled about three-quarters with beer, and by the time Axel and Demyx had won the game by one cup, they were incoherent. Roxas had cheered for them of course, both during and after the game, but found himself being a bit apathetic to the whole thing. Especially after he tried to rejoin them, and found himself unable to find them in the excited crowd.

"They were just right over there," he said out loud to himself, staring dumbly at the spot where he had last seen Axel's head of hair. He walked around a little, trying not to seem too lost in the crowd of people while he searched for his friends. Axel had _promised_, and now he was all alone. Just great. He gave up after another 15 minutes of searching what had to be the entirety of the sorority house, flopping himself down onto a couch. It took him some time to realize that a couple was in the middle of a heated make-out session right next to him, and he groaned before shuffling further away from them. This just wasn't his night.

Roxas continued to people-watch for a short time longer, trying to keep a look out for Axel or any of the Brothers. His watch told him that it was a little after one in the morning, and that it was humanly possible that some of his friends had already left. The couple next to him was still going at it, and the girl had lost her shirt. Okay. Time to go. He gave himself a shaky push up from the couch, resolving to talk to Axel about his _total betrayal_ the next day, when they were both sober.

No sooner had he started off towards the front door than a blur of blonde knocked straight into him, nearly sending both bodies tumbling to the ground.

"What the- Naminé?" Roxas sputtered, clutching the small girl in his arms. She looked up to him in fright, and he noticed that she had a good deal of makeup on her face. Some of it was running down from her eyes, which looked wide and scared. Before Roxas could ask her what was wrong, she was yanked out of his grasp by an older boy he didn't recognize.

"Why'd you run off?" the guy sneered down at her, and a few of his friends watched from behind him "We just wanted to talk to you a little more, that's all."

"Hey!" Roxas said as loudly as he could, earning the attention of the group. He wasn't stupid, and immediately recognized from their body language (as well as Naminé's struggles to break free from the leader's grasp) that their intentions were anything but noble. "I suggest you let her go, she's a pledge of this sorority!"

"Oh yeah?" the leader of the group said, smirking awfully, breath reeking of liquor. "What's it to you, shrimp? Gonna tell on us?"

"Just let her go," Roxas demanded again, taking another step towards him and Naminé.

"I saw her first!" the guy spat back, tugging Naminé closer to him. "Go find yourself another girlfri-" But he couldn't finish his taunting. Naminé brought a swift knee up to his groin, forcing him to release her and grasp desperately his crotch while he howled in pain. Roxas reached out for her hand and began to tug her away, half-tripping over himself -- but the guy's cronies were already surrounding them and pulling them apart faster than they could escape. One held onto Naminé; it took two to subdue Roxas, who was thrashing wildly. Once the leader seemed to have recovered from Naminé's blow, he straightened and approached Roxas with an angry look in his eyes.

"I can't very well hit her back," he started. "That would be rude of me." A few of his friends snickered around them. "So I'm going to hit you instead. Have a good coma."

Roxas struggled and tugged and tried to break free, but it really was no use. The cowards were holding him down, and he had no choice but to watch his attacker wind back and punch him right in the center of his face. It was almost like watching a dream. Somewhere in the back of his mind he _heard_ his nose break, and the bitter taste of copper dripped down through the cracks of his lips. His attacker stared down with a malicious smile, and wound up for another punch-

-and was sent flying to the floor as a fist collided with his face.

Marluxia straightened and shook out his hand, smirking down at the boy he'd just knocked out. "Sorry," he said sarcastically. Roxas would have gaped right then if he could. "Am I late for this party, or is it invite only?"

In an instant, Roxas felt himself released as the remaining boys charged Marluxia. Not one was able to lay a hand on him though, as he was swiftly joined by both Saix and Xigbar. An all-out brawl began, and Roxas was ordered by one of his Brothers to leave. Without thinking twice, he grabbed Naminé by the hand and took off in the direction of the exit, chants of 'fight! fight!' filling their ears as they put as much distance between themselves and the house as possible.

The adrenaline pumping through his body forced Roxas to keep going, hand in hand with Naminé running beside him as they sprinted towards the Chi house. It wasn't that far, but he couldn't breathe through his nose, and Naminé was half-dragging him through the front door by the time they got there. It wasn't until he had been dropped in a chair at the kitchen table that he felt the pain, and he cried out angry curses while reaching up to touch his broken nose.

"Don't touch it!" Naminé called out, frantically searching the cabinets and drawers for a small towel. She located one and stuck it under the sink, soaking it with hot water before running back to Roxas' side. "Just lean back, okay? Oh god, there's blood everywhere…"

"Unnnng, huuuurts," Roxas wailed pathetically as Naminé wiped his face with the towel. No matter how gentle she was trying to be, any small amount of pressure on his nose felt like being punched all over again, and he cried out loudly and gripped the arms of his chair until it was possible he was going to break them.

"Hold that to your nose while I find another one," she instructed, voice oddly unwavering despite the fact that she seemed to have started crying again. She found another dishtowel and soaked it as well, returning to Roxas and switching it out for the bloodied one. He groaned a weak thanks and she managed a smile, pushing some wet bangs away from his face.

"What's going on down here?" Zexion slurred as he entered the kitchen. He was half tipsy and half asleep, still in his pajamas and looked a bit ridiculous at the moment. His eyes widened upon seeing Naminé with streaks of Roxas' watery blood on her arms and clothes, and he approached the pair quickly. "Oh shi-, oh, Roxas, my god…"

"Someone hit him at the party," Naminé quickly supplied, wiping at her face with the back of her previously unsoiled sleeve. "I think his nose is broken."

"We should take him to the hospital," Zexion said, peering down at the pledge with a suddenly worried glance.

"Noof, noooh-" Roxas argued into the cloth, creaking his eyes open and waving his free hand around. His bloodied shirt stuck to his chest.

"If your nose is broken, you have to," the Brother said. "Let me at least take a look." Roxas complied and removed the towel, revealing his crooked and bruising nose. Zexion tilted the boy's chin up, took a good look at the body part in question, and guided Roxas' hand to replace the towel. "It is absolutely broken. I insist that we go to the hospital."

"Hey guyyyssssoooooooh shit…" Demyx called from the doorway of the kitchen. He had stumbled back to the house after the fight had begun, warned by Vexen (or was it Luxord? He couldn't remember) that if the commotion continued, the party was sure to be raided by campus security. They had all been trying to find each other and leave, and Demyx seemed to be the first one to get back. "What happened?"

"We'll explain on the way to the hospital," Zexion said, giving Roxas a hand up.

"Hospital?" Demyx echoed.

"Yes. Now let's go, I'm driving."

"I should drive," Naminé piped in. "I haven't had a thing to drink tonight."

"Fine," Zexion said after a short deliberation, finding Vexen's car keys and tossing them to her. He led the way outside, still in his slippers, to where the small sedan was parked not too far away. Naminé led Roxas to the car with Demyx trailing drunkenly behind them.

"Lie down if you can," she instructed before hopping behind the driver's seat. Zexion sat next to her in order to, hopefully, direct them to the nearest hospital. Demyx and Roxas climbed in the back, the taller blond barely flinching as the other stretched across the seats, and stuck his bleeding head on his lap. Naminé quickly started the car and they were off, speeding down the empty streets.

As they drove, Roxas mumbled out the story of what had happened, pausing every now and then to collect himself because he was in awful pain. Upon hearing that it was Marluxia who had knocked out the attacker, Demyx grinned and said something about how it was like saying thank you for wearing tights. Roxas managed a tiny laugh in response. The trip lasted all of fifteen minutes, and when the four finally made their way inside of the emergency room, they were instructed to wait. An ice pack was provided for Roxas, and he was questioned a bit before being admitted in to see a doctor. The other three had to patiently wait outside, slumping back into some chairs and hoping that they wouldn't have to be there too long.

* * *

By the time Roxas had been drugged, had his nose set, and given some fluids (he had been terribly dehydrated from drinking), it was nearly sunrise. On top of that, he had been forced to fill out a bunch of paperwork and stuff regarding his health insurance, and was not looking forward to the call from his parents when they got the hospital bill. Still, he tried not to worry about it too much as he walked the halls of the hospital, on his way back to the waiting room. He was tired as hell and wondered if the others had just gone home, and he'd have to call someone for a ride or something. Not that it was that bad of an idea because, despite the pain killers making him feel better, he had ugly dark bruises under his eyes and didn't really want to be seen a the moment.

He couldn't help but crack a smile at the sight he was met with in the waiting room.

Demyx, Zexion, and Naminé were still there, all three fast asleep with the girl curled around Demyx's form, burying her bare arms under his jacket. Her face had been wiped clean. Zexion was slouched awfully in his chair, face in his hand and fast asleep. Next to him, Vexen was sitting patiently, reading a book and allowing Saix to read over his shoulder. Luxord, Xigbar, Lexaeus, and Xaldin were playing Hearts in the corner, yawning to themselves and slapping their cards down messily. Xemnas was pacing nearby, and Marluxia sat with Larxene, who was holding an ice pack to his head. Roxas scanned the room once more for Axel, but he wasn't there.

"You look awful," Xemnas said with a smirk, halting in his tracks to stare at his pledge. The attention in the room immediately shifted up to Roxas, who was smiling as well and delivering the one-finger salute to the President. All at once, everyone stood to crowd around him, even waking the ones who were sleeping and moving as a group in the general direction of the exit.

"Oh man, that must've killed…"

"Looks pretty bad…"

"That asshole always starts fights…"

"Yeah, but we finished it!"

"We're lucky the police didn't finish it…"

"Don't be like that, it was awesome…"

"Does it still hurt?"

"I broke my nose once when I was fifteen…"

And it continued like that as they left the hospital, climbing back into the various vehicles they had somehow managed to pilot there. Humbled and grateful as he was to have almost the entire fraternity and then some waiting for him, Roxas still couldn't help but feel a twinge of hurt at the fact that Axel was nowhere to be found. As he climbed into the backseat of a car with Naminé and Demyx, he wondered briefly if he should be at all concerned over the redhead's absence. But before he could open his mouth to ask if anyone knew where Axel was, he was falling asleep against the door.


	9. Calm Before the Storm

Author's notes: This chapter was hard for me to write for some reason. No inspiration. Bother... enjoy anyway.

**Brotherhood: Chi Iota Iota**

* * *

It wasn't until roughly two in the afternoon that the sun filtered through the window at juuuust the right angle to hit Axel in the face. He had been sleeping with his mouth wide open, drooling on a pink pillow that certainly did not belong to him. Interestingly enough he was missing his shirt, and god only knew at what stage of the previous night he had lost it. The incoming light caused him to stir, which made his back ache and pulled a loud groan from his throat. He pushed himself up from the squishy mattress and surveyed his surroundings with bloodshot eyes. Well. He definitely didn't remember passing out here. A girl shifted in bed next to him, and he paled.

"Nnng?" she asked, apparently in response to Axel's movements.

"Uhh…" he started, taking a good look at her face and willing his brain to recognize her. No dice. "Hi, Uhm. Where... am I?" he asked, but she had fallen back asleep before he could get an answer. He knew it was incredibly stupid to leave, seeing as most of the night was registering as a complete blank and it was possible there was information he needed from her. Like the location of his shirt… Thankfully his other belongings still seemed to be snugly in his pockets, and he slid from the bed to look out the window.

One question answered: he was still at Sorority Row from the looks of it. Hopefully he was in the Gamma Iota Iota house, seeing as that was the last place he remembered being, and he sort of knew the layout of the house. He wouldn't really know until he took a step out of the room… Crap. Alright, time for the escape. Axel pressed his ear to the bedroom door, waiting for the sounds of stirring. When he heard nothing, he slowly opened the door, took one last glance back at the slumbering girl, and snuck down the hallway like a ninja. He made it to the staircase without bumping into anyone, and mentally congratulated himself just as he got to the front door. He swung it open triumphantly, took two steps outside, and halted in his tracks.

"…Axel?"

"Demyx?"

"Where have you _been_, dude!?"

"I-"

"Don't you check your phone?"

"Uhm…" Axel reached into his pocket to withdraw a slim cell phone. The digital display read 57 missed calls. "…That does seem a little higher than usual."

"Everyone was calling you-"

"I'm just going to… uhm, get inside," Naminé said from her previously unnoticed position behind Demyx, effectively derailing the exchange between the boys. She shrugged off the jacket Demyx had leant her, handing it back and the two exchanged something wordless that left her with a tiny smile. "Nice to see you again, Axel," she said as she pushed past him and into her Sorority's house.

"…Dude. Did you tap that?" Axel asked with a sick grin.

"W-what!? Axel!"

"I knew you'd lose your virginity one day, babycakes."

"Don't be disgusting," Demyx hissed incredulously. "I was walking her back because, unlike someone, she was with us at the hospital last night!"

"Whoa, what? Hospital?" Axel gaped, demeanor changing instantly. "What happened?

Demyx fidgeted for a second, before finally talking. "Roxas. He got punched at the party and broke his nose…"

"WHAT?"

"I-it was some guy, Roxas was trying to protect Naminé from him. He had a group of people with him and, well… Roxas lost I guess. I wasn't there or anything," Demyx said all at once. "I came afterwards when we took him to the hospital, and everyone came except for you. Roxas was worried."

Axel blinked at Demyx, and if one were listening close enough near the vicinity of the redhead's ear, they could surely hear a fizzle of sorts caused from an implosion of thought. His face contorted into something unrecognizable, and before Demyx could ask if he was going to puke, he was sprinting full speed towards the Chi house.

"Axel! WAIT!" the blond bellowed, taking after his friend. He was shouting things out but Axel chose to not hear him, running across campus half naked until he reached the front door and threw it open. The house seemed quieter than usual, and he made it up the stairs without seeing a soul. Out of breath, he walked heavily towards Roxas' bedroom and opened the door.

"Roxas?" he asked the room, but go no reply. Demyx came wheezing up behind him shortly afterwards.

"I was -- trying to tell -- you," he said softly between gulping breaths. "He's -- sleeping, you -- idiot. Don't -- wake him up."

Axel's gaze flecked to the bed, where a rustle of sheets indicated Roxas' form. The blond was wheezing through his nose. Dark, ugly bruises had bloomed under his eyes, but he seemed otherwise alive.

"He's okay?" Axel whispered.

"Of course he's okay," came the answer, Demyx dragging the other out of the bedroom. "I'm going to catch some more sleep, I think you should as well. You look like shit."

"_Thanks_, Dem."

"Got your back!" he whispered with a wink. "Also, you smell like-- oof. Okay, I get it. See ya."

Axel managed a small smile as he watched Demyx retreat to his bedroom, and then turned to take a much-needed shower. He reeked of pot and cigarettes, and by the time he got out of the shower he was about ready to die of guilt. After getting dressed, he tiptoed back into Roxas' room and pulled the desk chair up to the bed. And he waited.

* * *

Unfathomable pain was his first jolt into consciousness. All he wanted to do was continue sleeping, but all hopes of doing such were banished by the throb between his eyes. Slowly, he rose from sleep and blinked at his oddly bright room. Oh right, he had gone to bed earlier in the morning, hadn't he… Shit he was in pain. He groaned pathetically and tried to sit up.

"Oh Roxas, oh my god, hi, do you need-- let me help you," came a babbling slew of words, making Roxas jump a little where he lay. He looked to Axel, who was biting his lower lip and stuffing pillows behind Roxas' back to help him sit up. He looked disheveled and had no kohl under his eyes.

"Axel? What are you doing?"

"Taking care of you. Here, I got you some water so you can take the medicine," the redhead said with a strange urgency, pushing a glass and the prescription painkiller into his friend's hands. Roxas barely blinked before taking it, wanting the pain to go away as soon as possible. Axel watched him swallow.

"Where were you?" the blond asked finally, softly. He looked hurt.

"I'm sorry," Axel started, feeling meek. "I was so drunk, we got separated and I just didn't think anything of it. Some guys wanted to smoke a bowl and so I did and just passed out somewhere, woke up with some girl I didn't know and-"

"You promised."

"I-I know. I'm really sorry, Roxas."

"My nose hurts."

"I'm sorry!"

"I can't believe you were sleeping with some girl while I was in the hospital!" he yelled, some strange sense of jealousy flaring up. How could he do something like that, Roxas had thought… "That's fucking weak, Axel!"

"I wasn't sleeping with her! I… guess I just fell asleep there…" He scratched his head, sending slightly damp spikes into disarray.

"Classy," Roxas snorted, not really believing him.

"I said I was sorry," Axel snapped. "I ran back here as soon as I heard, you can't stay mad at me."

"Watch me."

"Hey!"

"HEY!" Saix snarled from the doorway, taking long steps towards where Axel was seated by the bed. He grabbed the redhead by the back of his neck, hoisting him up and away from Roxas. "Where the fuck were you, bitchface?"

"Awuh?" Axel garbled, making grabby hands at Roxas.

"You're getting punished right now," Saix said and dragged him out of the room. Roxas just gaped at the now empty chair, sort of pissed for not being able to chew Axel out completely.

"C'mon, I was talking to Roxas," Axel mourned, trying to break free from Saix's grip.

"Your priority is this fraternity, always," the Brother spat in reply, ignoring the pleas. "You will learn to be available when called, the hard way." Shortly afterwards, Saix was joined by Xigbar and Xemnas, who were helping to guide (push) Axel down the stairs and out into the front yard of the house.

"What are you- hey…" Axel said as he was pushed up against a tree. Two rolls of duct tape were presented, and the Brothers began securing Axel to the tree none-too-gently. "Hey!"

"Punishment," Xemnas grunted, ripping some tape with his teeth. Xigbar gave the redhead two very painful purple nurples before the tape passed over them.

Overpowered by the three Brothers, Axel could do no more than verbally complain as tape spun around his still-shirtless torso. By the time the rolls were nearly gone, his arms and body were sturdily attached to the tree, and he was cursing loudly. A piece of tape firmly over his lips fixed that, and Xigbar scrawled the word 'TRAITOR' in black marker across his collarbones. Axel voiced his protests with growls, but the Brothers would hear none of it. In fact, they made sure they wouldn't hear, seeing as they marched right back into the house and away from his dying screeches.

Roxas watched this all from his window, unsure if it made him feel better or worse. Something in him was aching, that was for sure. Marluxia soon entered his room with 'breakfast' on a tray, and barked at the blond to get back in bed.

"You should stay down today, idiot," the Brother chided, placing the tray on Roxas' lap with a bit of a slam.

"Ah-- thanks," Roxas said anyway, smiling lopsidedly despite the fact that his face was still in pain. "And also, for last night. I didn't get a chance. To uhm. It was pretty cool."

"Not a problem. You'd have done the same, I'm sure."

"Not as well as you did it! One punch, and he was down!"

"Ah, well. You pick some things up after being here this long. It was nothing. Eat your eggs."

Roxas smiled and tried the food, finding it to his liking. Though temporarily distracted by the plateful of scrambled eggs, the empty pit in his stomach had nothing to do with hunger. He'd found himself to be a bit attached to Axel, for lack of a better word, and this whole situation had sort of forced him to question what was going on. Why he could still feel upset when all those people waited for him at the hospital the previous night, just because Axel hadn't been there. Why he had felt so betrayed by a stupid promise being broken. Why he'd let Axel share his bed.

"…Marluxia, I need to ask you something," he said a few mouthfuls of food later. "Uhm. It's personal."

"Shoot."

"Well." Roxas fidgeted and put his fork down, feeling uncomfortable but not knowing where else to turn. "I mean, I'm just kinda curious. How did you know for sure that you were uhm. Gay…?"

The older boy turned his head slowly to regard Roxas with a shocked stare, the silence palpable. Just when Roxas was about to withdraw, face already red, Marluxia laughed loudly into his hands. The pledge looked mortified and didn't dare move until the other was done.

"Roxas, I'm not gay," he said, wiping tears from the corners of his eyes.

"…But-!"

"I know, the others tease me about it all the time because I'm in theater. Trust me, I'm used to it but, aha, I'm not actually gay," Marluxia explained calmly. "I've been with Larxene since freshman year."

"I-I…" Roxas stuttered, so embarrassed he thought he was going to die. "I'm sorry, I just thought… everyone said and… oh my god, I'm _so sorry_."

"It's okay, r-really," Marluxia tried to say before laughing again, a deep, rich sound echoing in the bedroom. Roxas shoved more eggs in his mouth, feeling really pathetic at the moment. "Sorry, sorry," the Brother said after his laughter died down again. "I'm not laughing at you, honest. I never thought my… well, I'm not the manliest man around, I know, and… Ahh, don't feel embarrassed!"

"How can I not?" Roxas said through an odd grin as Marluxia patted him on the shoulder. "I admitted a sexual identity crisis _and_ wrongly accused you of being gay in one sentence."

"Yeah well… it's kinda funny."

"It is _not_, I'm so embarrassed…"

"You're not the first person in the world to go through that, you know. Stop thinking you're so special. Eat your eggs."

"Ha."

"I'm going to throw something at Axel, and you should go kiss and make up when you feel better," Marluxia said, rising from his spot at the edge of the bed. Roxas choked on his mouthful of eggs. "Don't try to hide it. You were calling out his name in your sleep the whole ride home."

"EMBARRASSING!"

"Funny. It's _funny_, Roxas."

* * *

Over the next three hours, Axel was taunted, teased, and had various pieces of rubbish tossed at him by passers-by. Not to mention that all of the Brothers had taken a swat at him as well, and ignored his pleas of having to go to the bathroom. Not that they could really understand him, but that wasn't the point. They each had a strangely personal way of punishing him, too.

For example, Lexaeus had eaten what looked to be a delicious meal in front of him. It wasn't as awful as being jabbed repeatedly by Xaldin, or treated to an awful rendition of "She'll be Coming Around the Mountain" by Luxord, but awful all the same. Marluxia had drowned him in some girly perfume, but only after helping Zexion to smash a few eggs on the redhead's chest. Vexen brought a set of chemicals down from his room, testing them on Axel's bare feet and writing down notes. Xigbar smoked a fag while leaning against him, elbowing the redhead in the gut any time he made a noise that sounded like begging. Saix emptied a beer on his head. Xemnas just repeated over and over again how extremely disappointed he was, and how perhaps he should have picked a different pledge. By the end of it all, Axel's head was hung low in shame.

"Axel." A familiar voice, maybe a bit strained. He looked up to Roxas' bruised face before him, and tried to speak. "Be quiet," the blond said solemnly, revealing a pair of scissors and taking some wobbly steps towards Axel, the powerful painkillers making him a little dizzy.

Roxas began snipping at the duct tape keeping Axel prisoner, slowly and carefully so he wouldn't accidentally cause more damage to the redhead's skin. Axel remained quiet, as instructed.

"I've been thinking," Roxas continued, pulling on a piece of tape. Axel yelped in pain as arm hair was ripped off. "Sorry. I was thinking that I don't feel like staying mad at you. I mean, you broke your stupid promise, but you couldn't have known what would happen." He pulled some more tape off, fast like a band-aid.

"MMMPH!...Mmph.."

"Sorry. And I sorta believe that you're sorry about going off like that. I don't want to hold you accountable for what you do when you're drunk, it's not really fair." He pulled at more and more tape, rubbing Axel's red skin in vague comfort. "While I'm still thinking that if you had been there, this wouldn't have happened… I can't hold you at fault, Axel. And anyway, I think you've learned your lesson." Axel nodded vigorously, halfway free and no longer the proud owner of any chest hair. "One more thing."

Axel looked at him questioningly, and froze when Roxas brought a hand up to his cheek. Without warning, the tape was ripped from his mouth.

"OW, SON OF A BITCH!"

"I just want to see something," Roxas continued calmly, now cupping Axel's sticky face with both hands. And before any further complaints could be made, he kissed the redhead full on the lips. It lasted only a few seconds, Axel unmoving only half because he couldn't, and when Roxas pulled away he remained quiet. "God damnit," Roxas continued, ignoring the smug look he was getting. "I liked that."

"Me too."

"Shut up."

"Okay." Axel grinned stupidly, obviously enjoying himself.

"This isn't easy for me," Roxas said, going back to cutting away the tape. "I mean, I've had ideas, but you're forcing me to deal with this and that's weirding me out."

"Maybe it's my boyish good looks."

"Maybe it's your girl-hips. But stop talking, because it's certainly not that." Axel giggled sarcastically and Roxas ripped the next piece of tape with a vengeance. "There you go. No more happy trail."

"Ughh.."

"I know you like me. Don't speak, only nod." Roxas smiled with satisfaction as he received a weak nod. "You've been touching me and sneaking into my bed and being a real asshole about it, Axel. Did you ever once think to _talk_ to me about it? Don't answer, just feel bad. You've been driving me crazy!"

"I'm sorry."

"You really need to learn to say what you mean," Roxas said with a sigh.

"I do mean it. You're not the only person who gets confused, you know," Axel snapped, and that shut the blond right up. "I didn't say anything because can you only imagine how friggin' awkward it would have been if you'd have brushed me off? We'd have to keep going for the next four years like nothing happened."

"…You can move now."

"What?"

"The tape, I cut it all," Roxas explained, taking a step back as Axel dislodged himself from the tree. There was still some tape down the front of his pants, and his skin was red and irritated on his chest and arms. The word 'traitor' remained on his skin, and his back has indents from the tree. Roxas was suddenly overwhelmed with pity.

"Thanks. And yeah, that's why. I wasn't trying to bother you. Most of the time."

"So you were just waiting for me to say something?"

"I guess. Or until I felt a little more confident asking," Axel admitted, stretching. "But. I suppose, about all this, we can try figure it out together."

"I suppose," Roxas agreed, not allowing Axel to slip an arm around his shoulders. "You're sticky and smell awful," he explained.

"Yeah, I need a shower. Wanna come?" the redhead asked cheekily as they walked back to the house.

"Nope. But I'll watch."

"No way you pervert."

"But. My nose really hurts…!"

"…" Axel sighed and tried to cover his smile. For someone who'd just been stuck to a tree and basically humiliated for all that time, he knew he shouldn't feel at all elated. He wanted to feel pissed or upset but just couldn't find it in him, and he dipped lower to press his sticky cheek to the blond's forehead. "You're a bad person, Rox."

* * *

Four days later, midterms were over and a strange calm washed over the Chi Iota Iota house. Considering all the unplanned excitement from the previous weekend, a quiet break was more than welcome. Roxas' face was healing, Axel was behaving, and Demyx even passed his music theory exam with flying colors. As far as the Brothers were concerned, it was much of the same for them. Another round of exams down, that much closer to getting out. Things went back to a cautiously optimistic sort of calm.

"I hope you two haven't forgotten about our membership fees," Demyx asked one morning over breakfast.

"Of course not," Axel lied easily, scooping some Frosted Flakes into his mouth.

"Good because between the three of us, it's 600 dollars. The sooner we get that money in, the less chance we have of panicking last minute," the blond continued. "And don't give me that story about working best under pressure, Ax. I'm not getting kicked out for your laziness."

"Touch-y."

"We haven't really picked what we want to do yet, have we…?" Roxas piped in, looking up from his oatmeal.

"We'd narrowed it down. Street performance, bake sale, and… I don't remember the last one…"

"Prostitution?" Axel supplied innocently. Roxas gave him a nasty look.

"…I still think the street performance is our best bet," Demyx said, ignoring the redhead. "We can go out for most of the day and play until we get enough money."

"But you wanted me to sing," Roxas interrupted. "My face is still bruised and stuff. Besides, what'll Axel do?"

"He can play something too. C'mon Ax, don't you know any instrument?"

"I uhm. Well…" Axel started, rubbing the back of his neck. "I sorta, playtheviolinshutup."

"What was that?" Roxas asked, grin forming.

"I said," a sigh, "I play the violin. Or, I used to."

"No fucking way!" Roxas yelled jubilantly, slamming his hand against the kitchen table out of pure joy. "Oh Axel, that is _rich_!"

"_Thanks_, Roxas. It didn't cause any traumatic childhood issues or anything," Axel said bitterly as his pledgemates laughed at him.

"H-how long did you play for?" Demyx asked through his chuckles.

"Like eight years. I don't have one with me, so that's the end of that," Axel quipped.

"Nonsense. I can borrow one from the music department, I'm sure. I'll bring it back today after class."

"Do it," Roxas said, still smirking despite the death glares Axel was giving him. "Then we can all contribute and make money. If it doesn't work, we'll try something else. Right?"

"Right!"

"Fuck you guys."

"Right," Roxas smiled, forgetting all about the bruises under his eyes. He rose to take his plate to the sink, giving Axel a fond pat on the head before walking away. Demyx arched a brow, and got hit in the face with cereal.

* * *

"You look pissed."

"I _feel_ pissed," Saix sighed and slumped down on Xemnas' futon. It was lumpy and old, but still comfortable. "My stupid pledge has been practicing his violin for three days straight, and his room is anything but sound proof. Demyx has been on with his guitar, and don't get me started on Roxas."

"Do something about it," Xemnas said from his desk, tone bored.

"I did. I forced them down into the basement and locked the door."

"Simple yet effective."

"Doesn't make up for the sleep I've lost," the sophomore mourned.

"They're practicing for a performance, to raise money. Membership fees, etc." Xemnas explained, his patience waning slightly.

"When can we have some _fun_ with them? They've had it easy since they got their rooms!"

"After we collect the money," the President said, as if it were obvious. "Don't want to break their spirits beforehand, we'll be needing them soon."

"For what, exactly?"

"Well. The Mosh is coming up in a few weeks, we'll need them to compete," Xemnas continued, referring to the largest Greek event of the semester where all the Sororities and Fraternities competed against each other in a wide variety of events. "And we'll be initiating them at the end of the semester, so we'll have plenty of time to boss them around then, alright?"

"Good," Saix grinned. "I need someone to clean my room."

"Clean it yourself, mongrel," came a voice from the doorway. Xigbar granted himself entrance and flopped down next to Saix on the futon. Xemnas visibly cringed, not wanting more company to distract him from his work. "They're pledges, not maids."

"So they won't be cleaning your room, then?" Saix quipped.

"Of course they will be. But I'm the Vice President, not a second year," Xigbar answered smoothly, kicking off his shoes.

"Don't…" Xemnas hissed from his chair.

"Pardon," Luxord said, sticking his head through the doorframe. "Did I hear something about maids? The basement needs a good scrub."

"We need to make plans," Xigbar said, turning to face their leader. "Now that exams are over, we gotta get back in the swing of things."

"Can we not discuss it later?" Xemnas asked, swiveling to face the little assembly in his room. "The pledges told me they'll be out most of the weekend earning money. Just gather some ideas together and we'll talk about it then, alright?"

"Okay, _Prez_," Xigbar said in a mocking tone. "We'll catch ya when you're not on your period."

"Xigbar, I swear to god-"

"We're going, we're going," Luxord said, dragging his spitting comrade out of the room, shoes and all.

"I'm going to think of something really great," Saix said after they'd left, standing to make his departure as well. "You'll see."

"I look forward to it," Xemnas said with the hints of a smirk, watching Saix leave his room before turning back to his work. He had to admit to himself that the talk of further fun with the pledges had made him excited for the remainder of the semester. He supposed he had missed torturing them for a bit, and if he knew his Brothers like he thought he did, he was sure that they would come up with some interesting new ideas that would make the pledges' lives a nightmarish hell.


	10. Drug Dealing 101

Oh I forgot to mention this last chapter, that this chapter would take a bit because I had finals. But school is now OVER for me, but thankfully not for the boys quite yet. I've also moved into a new flat as well as visited some friends and family in the short vacation time I was allotted. Expect more frequent updates. And review you whippersnappers.

Same warning and disclaimer.

**Brotherhood: Chi Iota Iota**

* * *

"Come on Roxas, people like this stuff."

"No Axel. _You_ like this stuff. I don't want any."

"We'll make more money if you do, hold still," Axel insisted, advancing on the shorter boy.

Roxas pushed away, scowling and baring his teeth in vain. When it was clear that he was not going to escape this one, he huffed and surrendered."…Does it hurt?" He looked up, still pissed but maybe a little less so than before.

"Of course not, it's just kohl. May tickle a little, try not to blink," Axel said with a bit of a laugh, tilting the other's chin up. "Look up. Yeah. …Roxas, don't blink!"

"I'm sorry!" the blond wailed disgracefully, rubbing at his eye. He had turned his head violently when the pencil first touched his eyelid. "That's really weird."

"Sit on your hands, then. Vocalize it instead of moving. Okay, going to try again."

"Ahhh-"

"Good, don't move."

"AHH, god that feels so _weird_, uuugh!"

"Almost done with this eye just-"

"AH! AXEL!"

"Done! Wait, don't touch it, Rox…" Axel said, taking a step back to admire his handiwork. For all the squirming, he'd done a pretty god job. At least the kid still had both eyes, and that had to count for something. Roxas turned around and looked at himself in the mirror, pulling a face.

"It's stupid."

"Not stupid. Pretty. Lemme do the other one," the taller insisted, licking his lips and tugging Roxas' chin up once more. No sooner did the kohl pencil touch eyelid that loud wails and begs could be heard from the bathroom once more. When Axel was finished he released his prey, allowing Roxas to scrutinize his reflection again. It admittedly wasn't an amazing look for him, but it screamed band junky and that was what mattered. The eyeliner, borrowed clothes, plus all the gel Demyx had slathered into his hair made Roxas look very unlike himself. It was only for a weekend, he reminded himself, and after granting Axel a thank-you-for-knowing-what-you-were-doing-for-once-you-good-for-nothing-asshole kiss, he went to open the bathroom door.

Xigbar and Luxord tumbled neatly onto the floor. See, they had been pressing their ears to the bathroom door, suspecting there may have been relations occurring in the shared bathroom. To be fair, the notion wasn't completely unwarranted. Not only were loud cries of Axel's name filtering from the room, but the two pledges had decided to keep the information about their technical involvement a secret. Naturally, everyone already knew.

"What are you doing?" Roxas asked crossly. The two Brothers scrambled up from the floor and straightened themselves out, trying to look innocent.

"Waiting for the bathroom," Xigbar supplied.

"There are like, six in the house," Axel said, pushing his way past the assembly and walking towards his room quite unamused. Roxas tried to follow, but was quickly stopped by Xigbar, who seemed in the mood for eye rape.

"Nice makeup, kid," the Vice President said, scrutinizing his pledge's appearance.

"I'm not talking to you, Xigbar," Roxas said, tugging his arm away from the other's grasp. "You blew off the combat meet yesterday."

"Shut up, I don't go to combat meets," Xigbar snorted, giving Roxas a shove.

"Well you _should_," Roxas said, shoving back. "Me, Saix and Xaldin are all on the team!"

"Want me to re-break your nose?"

"Alright, enough," Luxord interrupted, placing himself in Xigbar's way. Not that he thought his friend would actually break Roxas' nose, but he was immediately tired of the sudden attitude problem. "I'll make you some coffee, okay?" Xigbar grumbled and left the bathroom, taking his bad mood with him.

"What's his problem?" The pledge scowled and tentatively touched the skin under one eye. He had some concealer over his bruises, the original reason Axel had been helping him out in the first place.

"He doesn't go to combat meets," Luxord shrugged. "Ask him about it yourself when he's drunk."

Meanwhile, in the other room, Demyx was revealing his super secret special awesome surprise to Axel. Because really, the redhead had seemed the least pleased about their fundraiser and despite that, had practiced very hard to be ready for their performances. So Demyx had pulled some strings, literally, and borrowed a fantastically awesome electric violin from a classmate.

"Oh, it's shiny," Axel marveled, running his freshly calloused fingers down the strings. "For me?"

"Of course for you. It's got this nifty little amp and stuff, so don't worry about being heard. Who knew Fender made violins?"

"Dem, this is really cool. Seriously, thanks a lot."

"Don't mention it," Demyx replied, grinning crazily because even though Axel was trying to hide it, he could tell the other was really pleased/touched/thankful for the gift. "If we're gonna be out there, might as well enjoy it, right?"

"I'm mad," Roxas announced, entering the room. "…Nice violin."

"Demyx borrowed it for me. Isn't he the dreamiest?"

"Oh _totally_," Roxas fawned, fanning himself sarcastically. "Randomly, do either of you know why Xigbar won't come to combat meets?"

"Why don't you just ask him?" Demyx prompted, plugging Axel's violin into the amp for him. Axel fingered the strings happily, getting a feel for the sleek, white instrument.

"I don't think he feels like talking," Roxas said. "I may just ask Xaldin, he'd know."

"He's so dreamy," Axel supplied and played a few notes.

"Stop that," Roxas snapped.

"Don't dwell on it right now. We have to carry our equipment down to the quad," Demyx said, picking up his guitar and slinging it onto his back. They had a good assembly of amps and wires and electrical crap that they needed to bring with them in order to perform out in the populated area of campus, where they were hoping to get the biggest audience and thusly, more handouts. Luckily enough for them, the early November months brought pleasant weather to the islands and there was little threat of unbearable heat. By the time the trio of pledges had set up all the extension chords and equipment and donation bin of course, it was early afternoon.

At first, Axel and Roxas seemed a bit nervous about the performances seeing as neither had really been up on a 'stage' for a good while. Demyx on the other hand seemed right at home, and after a few experimental songs they fell into perfect rhythm with each other, just like they had practiced. When the nerves died down, the only thing they had left to worry about was if two days was enough time to raise their membership fees.

* * *

The meeting was called to order by Xemnas of course, who nearly started swearing when the Brothers still wouldn't shut the hell up after being asked three times. He knew they were excited but honestly, no one would get anything done if there was no sense of order. By the time he had everyone's attention, he couldn't help but crack a small smile in anticipation as well.

"As most of you know, The Mosh is quickly approaching. Chi Double-I has won the event six years running, and I dare say I will not be the President who breaks the streak," Xemnas said, straight to business for once. "On top of that, I know you've been planning your own 'tests' for our pledges. I know you may get upset, but I want to ask you all to re-strategize your plans in order to train the freshmen for the Mosh."

"What?" Xaldin asked/more like demanded. "But I wanted them to polish the artillery before the next meet!"

"Clean my room," Xigbar offered.

"Fight each other to the death," Saix said, smirking to himself when he received a few blank stares.

"No, no, and maybe," Xemnas said, arms crossed in front of his broad chest. "I want them ready for the Mosh, you know what sort of events there are. If they eat, make sure it's fast and in large quantities in preparation for the eating competition. If they drink, they need to be chugging it. You catch my drift."

"Perhaps it would be wise," Vexen interjected, taking notes on every word passed across the table, "if we were to keep them healthy. There are physical challenges as well, and I doubt any of them will be fit for volleyball if their stomachs have exploded."

"Oh, and you know how good the jock sorority is at that crap. God, running around in their little hot pants and shit. They play a hard game," Xigbar said. "Hey, maybe we should wear hot pants. You know, as a distraction."

"Disgusting," Zexion hissed.

"You wear them, Xig. We'll watch," Marluxia snorted.

"Maybe I will! I think I'd look awesome in those things."

"The next person to speak of hot pants will be paddled," Xemnas warned, rubbing his temples.

"So, let me get this straight," Luxord started, pun intended. "We gotta scrap our old ideas, no matter how wicked or fantastical they were, in favor of Mosh training torture. Correct?"

"Yes," the president confirmed.

"Studix didn't do that last year, and we still won," the blond pointed out, stroking his goatee. Both Zexion and Saix shifted uncomfortably.

"…It doesn't matter. You can save your old ideas for a rainy day for all I care, but you're going to get the pledges ready for the Mosh, and that is my final word on the matter." Xemnas looked around the table, hoping for at least a few signs of agreement. He honestly believed that his idea was in the fraternity's best interest, and for a strange moment grew somewhat nervous that the Brothers were too divided over the matter. That was no way to be before a competition.

"He's right," Vexen offered supportively, pen scratching against his small notebook. "Prioritizing the Mosh is a superb way to secure victory."

"You know," Marluxia said, facing Xigbar. "I bet we can figure a way to turn cleaning into training."

"Sleep on it," the President said. "I have full faith in your abilities to make this experience a proper part of hazing. Work together if you must, but make sure it gets done. Bonus points to the first one who makes them cry."

* * *

At the end of a very long weekend, the pledges sat anxiously around Demyx's guitar case to count their earnings. The first day they had not made all that much; a bit over one hundred dollars, which wasn't even close to half of what they needed. They had fought a little after that, arguing that it wasn't worth going out for another day and that they had to re-think their strategy. But in the end, they continued their performances anyway. Thankfully, word had spread across campus about the trio of "musicians," and the pledges found themselves collecting more money. They deserved it as well, seeing as how their performances had been entertaining (Axel stripped) and well practiced (Axel stripped while playing). Still, if they didn't meet quota, things could downgrade to downright depressing.

"I've got one-hundred and seventeen dollars," Axel said, placing his stack of bills neatly back into the guitar case.

"One-hundred and fifty four, and thirty seven cents," Demyx added.

"One-hundred and twelve," Roxas said, pulling out his cell phone to add their earnings up. "Okay, so all of that, plus the money we made yesterday, that would be… shit, we're short. Five-hundred and twelve dollars, and sixty four cents."

"Fuck."

"Damn it."

"I know," Roxas said, moving to put his cash in with the rest. He stared at the mass of money and sighed. They were so close.

"Come on, we can make the rest somehow," Demyx provided, looking to his friends. "I mean hell, I can throw in twenty bucks or something."

"But I mean, that's my spending money," Axel said. "There's gotta be a way to earn 90 bucks without paying it out of pocket ourselves."

"I, uhm…" Roxas began, looking a little uncomfortable. "I think I have an idea."

* * *

"Vexen, I need to borrow your car," Roxas said, squared in his Big Brother's doorway.

"Oh?" the elder replied, setting his notebook aside. "What would you need mine for?"

"I need to go see Cid real quick."

"I see…" Vexen said, eyes narrowing somewhat. His mind started to process the very many reasons he could have to deny his pledge the usage of his car, but in the end he was fishing out his keys anyway. Let them make their own mistakes, that was his policy. It was the best way to learn. "Be careful, then."

"Thanks, I will." Roxas accepted the car keys and offered a quick smile before darting out of the house. He wasn't sure why he was running. Perhaps if because he slowed down to think about what he was doing, he would change his mind. Perhaps it was because Vexen hadn't scolded or asked him what was going on, simply judged him silently and that was almost worst than being reprimanded. Perhaps it was because his leftover prescription painkillers were burning a hole in his pocket.

By some miracle, he found his way out to Cid's secluded residence without getting terribly lost. Roxas sat in the driveway for a few minutes before turning the sedan off and walking up the gravel path to the front door. He rang the doorbell and waited for the gun cock before stating his name.

"…Balls?" Cid asked through the screen door, scrutinizing Roxas' appearance.

"Yeah, don't you remember me? Vexen's pledge," Roxas explained, fidgeting slightly where he stood. "My real name is Roxas."

"Oh, oh yeah, sure kid," Cid replied, putting his long rifle down to rest against a nearby wall before walking out to his front porch. A black and white cat followed him out, immediately moving to sniff at Roxas' shoes. "So what can I do for ya? I don't have any kegs right now."

"I don't want any," Roxas said, eyeing the cat who was now rubbing against him. "Uh, actually, I wanted to sell you something this time."

"This ain't a pawn shop, Balls."

"I know, but," the shorter boy started, hand digging into his pocket to pull out his plastic tube of medicine. He knew plenty of kids liked to take painkillers when drinking or doing other drugs, and hoped to the god of drug peddling that his medicine could sell. "I thought you might have some use for these."

Cid took the offered container and read the attached label quickly, scanning the prescription name and the dosage before turning his gaze back down to Roxas. "How many are in here?"

"I don't know."

"And how much do ya want for em?"

"Eighty-seven dollars and thirty six cents," Roxas said in a huge rush, adrenaline spiking somewhat.

"Uh-huh," Cid replied, raising a brow. "Come in for a sec, lemme count these real quick." He held the screen door open for Roxas, who tentatively stepped inside and sat on a comfortable couch when prompted by his host. Cid sat on another chair across the coffee table, and opened the bottle to spill the white pills onto the table. While he counted them, the cat jumped up to rub against Roxas' shirt affectionately.

"Stop that," he whispered lowly to the cat, trying to push it away.

"He just likes ya, kid," Cid offered mid-count. "There. Twenty-one here, good dosage. I can offer eighty for them."

"That's fine," Roxas said quickly, figuring they could make the rest up easily. The cat dug its claws into his leg.

"Good. I'll get your cash… why you selling these anyway?"

"Membership fees," Roxas explained, lifting the cat up. It meowed at him softly, and if cats could smirk triumphantly, then this one was doing just that. "We were a little short, I wanted to help out."

"Got it. Be back, don't go snooping around anywhere," Cid said and went to get some money.

Roxas took the opportunity to look around the dark house he had no intention of wandering around in. The place smelled off (but not bad or unpleasant, just off), and from what he could see, there were a few illegal substances sitting around the room. There were also a few mechanical tools strewn about, some small pieces of machinery and metal. He wondered if Cid got high a lotor if he just sold things to make ends meet. He wondered if the cat was high right then because no animal should ever be that affectionate. He wondered whose stupid mouths his pills would find their way into.

"Here you go, Balls. Eighty in cash."

"Thanks," Roxas said, accepting the money and stuffing it into his pocket. He stood to leave because lord knew he wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. "And you can call me Roxas now."

"I could," Cid replied and moved to walk Roxas out. "But you seem like more of a 'Balls' to me."

"…How does someone even _seem_ like a-"

"See ya later, kid. Pleasure doin' business with ya!" Cid called and pushed Roxas out of the house, closing the door behind him. Roxas stood there for a moment before retreating to the car, heading directly towards the Chi house and not looking back. He was covered in cat hair and needed to get the money out of his hands as soon as possible before he had any second thoughts. He hadn't even taken his name off the bottle, he realized at some point of the drive, and a pit had fully formed in his stomach by the time he got back home.

Roxas thrust his wad of cash into Demyx's hands as soon as he could, face-planting into the other's bed with a huff. Axel counted it, proclaimed it wasn't enough, and got hit in the face with a missile-pillow. Demyx coughed up the extra seven dollars and thirty-six cents if only to prevent civil war.

"C'mon Roxas, it's alright," Axel said in attempt to coax his friend from the bed.

"Yeah, you really helped us out," said Demyx.

"I'm going to hell," came the muffled response.

Downstairs, the doorbell rang through the living room, where Lexaeus and Marluxia were watching a football game on television. It was college ball, and Lexaeus was trying to pinpoint some of their strategies seeing as they were set to play the UDI team in a couple week's time. When he didn't move to get the door, Marluxia sighed obnoxiously and rose to answer it. Lexaeus smirked at the screen and took a swig from his beer.

"Yes, I'm coming, keep your shirt--….on?" Marluxia said as he swung open the door. Before him were a sea of bags and boxes, all seemingly packed in haste.

"Marluxia…" Naminé's voice sounded to the left. She was trying to look determinedly blank, but he could spot drying streaks under her eyes. "Is Demyx home? He hasn't answered my calls all weekend."

"Oh, yeah, he's… just, hold this," the Brother fumbled, shoving his beer into her hands before taking off up the stairs. Two at a time, he reached the top quickly and called out Demyx's name instead of searching for him. The said blond was currently trying to buffer between Axel and Roxas' angry slurs over the money issue, but they all fell silent when Demyx darted from the room.

"What's up?" he asked, spotting the Brother.

"There's something downstairs I think you need to deal with. This very second."

Demyx took off with Marluxia behind him, and Axel stared down at Roxas with a decidedly cranky scowl.

"We'll finish this later, Roxas. You have such an attitude problem." The redhead turned and followed a good deal behind the others.

"I was dealing drugs, I'm allowed to have an attitude problem!" Roxas yelled after him, but didn't follow.

"Hey Nami- why are you holding that?" Demyx asked once downstairs, giving the girl, the beer, and the assembly of belongings on the porch a quizzical look.

"Oh, that's mine," Marluxia said, plucking it from her and taking a sip through his crazy straw.

"I uhm," Naminé started, glancing up at the Brother and then back to Demyx. "I quit Gamma."

"Whoa…"

"Oh god," Marluxia gulped. "You _know_ who Larxene is taking this out on." He retreated into the house, passing Axel along the way.

"What-- I mean, why did you do that?" Demyx asked, stepping closer to her.

"It wasn't for me, I couldn't possibly stay. I- I mean, the things they made me do and… they spit all over me when I left. I don't have a place to live, they wouldn't let me stay until I got a new housing assignment, and-"

"I understand," Demyx said and gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Don't cry, Naminé. You can bunk up with us!"

"I can?"

"She can?" Axel piped in from the doorway, where he had been listening in.

"Well she's not sleeping on the street! Just until you get your new assignment, yeah? We'll make it work." Demyx released her and picked up the nearest bag, slinging it over his shoulder as if the decision had already been made. Naminé simply smiled and wiped at her eyes, nodding happily.

"Roxas is up in Demyx's room. Why dontcha go on up and we'll bring up your junk," Axel said, pointing inside the house. Naminé nodded again and, after slinging a bag over her shoulder, headed upstairs. "Demyx. Are you _insane?!" _the redhead hissed once she was gone.

"What? You have a better idea?"

"We need to ask permission for this shit! If the Brothers find out we moved her in without asking…"

"I'll ask after we get everything inside," Demyx explained, picking up a box.

"And if they say no?"

"…I haven't thought of that. Just grab something and help me get it into my room, would ya?"

"Yeah yeah, I'll give you something to grab," Axel said sullenly and picked up a box, following the blond up the stairs. When they reached Demyx's room, Roxas was seated with Naminé on the bed and apparently telling her something very funny while gesturing to his heavily kohled eyes.

"Thank you," she said to the pledges, smiling and pushing some hair out of her face.

"Who's up for doing laundry, hm pledgies? I've got the most impressive skidmarks in these… Oh." Xigbar came to a stop in their doorway, arms full of bags that presumably held laundry. He spotted Naminé, and immediately lowered his armfuls a bit. "Thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis is awkward."

"I'd say," Roxas mumbled.

"Hm. Welp, your guest doesn't excuse you from laundry. Or scrubbing the basement," Xigbar continued, dropping his bags and walking off. "NOW!" he called from the hallway.

Axel and Roxas sped off to start the clothing, parting ways momentarily with Demyx and Naminé who still had to bring the rest of the girl's stuff inside. Roxas was internally cursing as he separated lights from darks, deciding that it was possibly the worst day in a while. He had had to sing in front of a kajillion people, and in the end the embarrassment hadn't even paid up all the way. He'd sold drugs illegally and could only hope he'd stop feeling so damn bad about it, on top of hoping he wouldn't get caught. Naminé had no place to live. He had a five page paper to write for a class. The laundry smelled disgusting, and the basement was puke-stained from a recent party. It was like one shot right after another. And the worst part, the absolute shittiest fucking part of this whole thing, was the pressing feeling that things were only going to get astronomically worse.


	11. The Heart of the Matter

Author's note: I'm unsure if anyone still reads this, but I picked it up again after a few years. Enjoy and thank you for reading.

* * *

Exactly how Lexaeus had managed to snag one of the athletic facility's golf carts was not common knowledge. A few rumors had circulated, ranging from simply walking in and taking what he wanted, all the way to him performing indecent sexual favors. In reality, sometimes all one had to do was ask. And it had been worth it, too. Or at least he thought so as he drove it around the school track, clad in his favourite shades with Zexion hanging off the back seat.

"Don't slow down!" the sophomore yelled at the pledges, who were following their upperclassmen on foot and looked worse for wear. Perhaps it was because they had been deprived of any food since the previous night's dinner, and it was now around 2 pm. They'd been running for a good forty-five minutes, and as soon as they completed an hour, they'd have to scarf a dozen hot dogs down their throats.

"I think we can stop, Zexion!" Axel called between panting breaths. "I've already worked up my appetite!" On either side of him, Demyx and Roxas were red in the face and had their eyes on the golf cart. Demyx was singing to himself in his head, to try distract from the pain of his muscles ripping apart. It wasn't working.

"Hmm," Zexion looked over his shoulder. "What do you think, Lex? Give 'em a break?"

"Fifteen more minutes won't kill anyone," the driver answered. "Besides, I'm enjoying myself."

"Ah, no matter how many times we circle the track, it never stops being fun. No dice, pledgies." The trio groaned and resigned themselves to their fate. At least running wasn't so awful. It beat the countless raw eggs they'd swallowed however many days ago. And the cactus tossing. And the beer chugging. (Not that chugging beer was always a bad thing, but being forced to continuously swallow the carbonated beverage even after puking multiple times was never ever EVER anyone's idea of a good time. Aside from the Brothers' of course.)

Finally, _finally, _Lexaeus and Zexion led the band back towards the house. They parked the golf cart on the font lawn; they'd bring it back eventually. Maybe. Axel, Demyx, and Roxas were led inside despite the fact that they were literally dripping with sweat, and were sat down at the kitchen table. Saix had been waiting for them, microwaved hot dogs already in their buns. There were twelve on each of the three plates, and a bowl of water beside them as well. Whichever team of six ate their 12 hot dogs apiece fastest would win that particular challenge in the Mosh. Aside from the three pledges, Saix, Xigbar, and Lexaeus were going to do their parts as well.

"I'll go get Xigbar," Zexion said, leaving the kitchen. Since the Mosh last year, he'd not really been able to look at another hot dog, let alone eat one. Saix and Lexaeus got their own plates, and made one up for the Vice President as well. When Xigbar finally did enter the kitchen, he looked as if he'd just woken up; and that was true to a certain extent. He'd decided to wake and bake only a half hour prior, smoking a bowl by himself while in bed. It was his sure way to victory, after all.

"Let's do this," he said, seating himself next to Axel and looking hungrily at his plate of hot dogs.

"I'll time," Saix said, taking off his wristwatch and toying with it for a few moments. "Ready?"

Axel looked to Roxas, who looked to Demyx. They were still completely exhausted from running so much, and not exactly in the mood to scarf down a dozen hot dogs as quickly as they could. Though, just as had been with all of the events, they simply had no choice.

"Go!"

All six boys grabbed a hot dog and dunked it into the bowls of water, compressing the buns down around the meat before shoving their faces full of food. It was messy, disgusting, and didn't even taste that good without ketchup in Roxas' personal opinion. By the fifth or sixth dog, the pledges had slowed down considerably. Xigbar was nearly finished after five minutes, even licking his fingers.

"How does he do that?" Demyx marveled over his eighth hot dog, watching Xigbar grab for one of Axel's hot dogs having already finished his own.

"Finish them, come on! Just put it in your mouth!" Saix yelled at the pledges, clicking his watch again when the last bits of food disappeared. "Eight minutes and thirty-three seconds. Not bad, pledgies." He replaced his wristwatch, moving to unbutton the tops of his pants. How he'd been roped into this again, he wasn't sure. Probably because he was just so damn good at everything.

"I'm gonna puke," Demyx said, face in hands.

"You'll feel better," Lexaeus offered, pointing in the direction of the bathroom. Demyx nodded and got up, shuffling towards the toilet.

"I think you should all puke after the hot dog event. I will," Xigbar said like it was totally not a big deal, picking at his teeth. "If you have to chug beer later, you don't want to do it on a full stomach. I can bring weed, too."

"Please, no more," Roxas groaned, rubbing at his stomach. "I just want to shower."

"Go for it. We're done, right?" Xigbar asked the other Brothers.

"_You're_ the VP," Saix said.

"Oh. Right. Yeah, we're done."

Axel and Roxas threw their plates out and hobbled up towards their rooms, meeting a disgruntled Demyx on the way. They climbed the stairs slowly, gripping tightly to the rails. Naminé was waiting for them at the top, an expression of pity on her face. Since she'd moved in four or so days ago, she had born witness to everything that had been happening to her three friends. While she had suffered extreme emotional abuse and embarrassment pledging at her former sorority, it was nothing like the physically gruelling sort of embarrassment of the frat house.

"Hey guys," she said in an attempt to sound cheerful. "Are you all feeling alright?"

"Please, just… I don't want-" Roxas said, first up the stairs and trying to maneuver himself towards the bathroom as quickly as possible.

"We ran a lot, we ate a lot. We need naps," Axel offered, following Roxas.

"I threw up," added Demyx.

"Naminé…?" Roxas called from the doorway to his bathroom. Inside he was met with a sight quite unfamiliar. "What did you do to our bathroom?" Axel peaked over his shoulder and made a face.

"I _cleaned_ it," she replied, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Where's all my stuff?" Axel asked, pushing past Roxas and into the bathroom.

"I put it into the cabinets. The sink was so cluttered, I couldn't even-"

"But I'm a guy! I like to see my stuff." The redhead gestured to the (clean) vanity top wildly. "M-… stuff!"

"Axel, it's still there," Naminé tried, also pushing past Roxas ("Ow, Nam. I'm tender!") to open up the cabinet.

"But I wanna _see_ it!"

"Then put it back, geeze, I'm sorry for touching it," Naminé said, sounding very unimpressed with the reaction to her hard work.

"I will!"

"Erm. Thanks, Nam. For cleaning it. It looks nice!" Roxas said, standing behind her. "I want a sweaty hug."

"Nooo, Roxas-" she said, stepping away from him.

"Sweaty hug! Sweaty hug!" Demyx chanted, having entered the bathroom as well. The two closed in on her and squeezed, eventually joined by the repenting Axel. She laughed and pushed at them, finally slipping away and making sick noises.

"Okay, you're welcome!" she said, making motions as if she were wiping the dirt from them off of her arms and body. "No more of that, please." With a quick turn she made her way back to Demyx's room, where she was still living. Surprisingly enough, Xemnas hadn't had a problem with Naminé staying in the house, as long as it wasn't for too long. She was pretty enough, after all. Just until she got her new housing assignment, he made Demyx promise, and that had been the end of that. Meanwhile, Demyx had put the old cot in either Axel or Roxas' rooms, and alternated sleeping arrangements every other day. Needless to say, their new housemate coupled with the strains of Mosh hadn't allowed the two boys to spend all that much time alone together.

"I'll use the upstairs shower," Demyx said, thinking he was very clever for jumping at the opportunity, taking his towel and caddy and heading for the stairs. Roxas closed the door behind him.

"What?" Axel asked innocently, trapped in the now sterile bathroom.

"Well. Shower," Roxas replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, arms crossing. He _always_ had to instigate with Axel, it was as if the redhead enjoyed being told what to do. Probably did, sicko.

"I need to puke."

"I've seen you puke. Lots."

"Chunks of hotdog?"

"…" Roxas felt his anger rise suddenly and turned back to the door, grossed out and ready to leave. Before he did though, he turned and pointed an accusing finger at a paling Axel. "You are the WORST. You really are." And with that, he marched off.

"S-SORRY if I don't want you to see me blow chunks! Roxas!" Axel called out after him. "Next time I'm about to do something incredibly disgusting and unattractive, I'll save you a seat, OKAY!?"

"FUCK YOU!"

Naminé stuck her head out the door just in time to see Roxas storm past her and hear Axel slam the bathroom door. She rolled her eyes. Honestly, if she didn't get her new housing assignment soon, she was going to lose her mind.

It should probably be mentioned here that Naminé had no idea of the sorts of relations going on between Axel and Roxas. To be honest, no one was sure where the two freshmen stood aside from rumors mostly sparked by Marluxia. Considering the Brothers had learned to not trust their fair-haired friend without hard evidence, they were quick to dismiss the idea that Roxas and Axel were more than forced friends. The consequences of this knowledge being presented as true to the Brothers were hard to predict, and thusly Roxas was intent on keeping things quiet – at least until he figured everything out.

Which he was sure he never would. Between pledging, the Mosh, and school, Roxas barely had time to take a dump in peace let alone figure out his situation with Axel. And they were both so stressed these days, always running on empty and picking stupid fights with each other. Roxas drummed his fingers on his knees, sitting alone in his room and staring intently at his dirty windowpane. He had felt an almost instant pang of regret for getting so cross with Axel, but couldn't muster up the strength to get back up and go ask for forgiveness. Luckily, he didn't have to.

"Hey." Axel's quiet voice drifted into the room. Roxas turned to the doorway, smiling somewhat at Axel's bloodshot eyes.

"Hey. Do you feel alright?"

"Better, at least. You know, I think I've puked more since joining this frat than I have in my entire life." This earned a chuckle from Roxas, and Axel eased into the room, closing the door behind him.

"I'm sorry," Roxas said, almost as if it were a knee-jerk reaction.

"It's okay, I know we're both really…"

"Stressed."

"Yeah. And-"

"Tired."

"Yeah. And we've had-"

"To put a lot of phallic things in our mouths."

"I was going to say no time alone, but that's true as well," Axel said with a weird smirk. Roxas grinned and found himself very funny, his tension relieving somewhat and almost completely letting go of the rage he was submerged in just 15 minutes earlier. "So now that I'm done being gross, I think it would be really nice if you came and showered with me."

"You never ask me to do things like that," Roxas said, his expression meaning to be surprised, but weighed down with exhaustion. "I always have to ask you."

"Well, I'm asking you now. Kind of. You asked me before. …It doesn't matter. I'll even wash your hair really good. I used to work at a salon you know." Axel pointed to his hair, which was still slick with sweat.

"…Axel, I don't think so," Roxas said. "You go on ahead."

Something strange hung in the air then. Axel's eyes narrowed and his brows pinched out of confusion because whatever he was expecting, it wasn't _that_. He waited a second to see if Roxas was serious, and when it became apparent that he was, Axel sighed and straightened his posture.

"Well sorry if I did something you didn't like-" he started.

"I just need to cool off. It's not you, it's..." Roxas interrupted, sighing. "It's this house. I can't even bring myself to think about sexy things when I'm this tired and uncomfortable."

"Forget sexy, then," Axel said, daring to move a few steps closer. "We never have time just you and me. I see you all the time but I still miss you in that way." A moment later, Axel flushed slightly at his blunt announcement, but he managed to stand his ground.

Roxas struggled for words, stuck between wanting to kiss those reddened cheeks and the unavoidable knowledge of how risky it was sneaking into the showers together. Finally he took a deep breath and let his worries fall away, just for now, and stood to lead Axel back into the bathroom.

* * *

"Demyx, I have to accept this assignment," Naminé said a few days later, a piece of campus mail on the desk between herself and her gracious host. Was that all she thought of him, she wondered? While they had totally started sleeping together, she was unsure if they had any official titles of ownership. Though their blossoming… romance?.. was causing Demyx to act somewhat entitled to her time.

"But I'll never get to see you," he complained again, but gave her a sweet smile. "That dorm is clear across campus."

"I'll have my own room in the apartment, you can sleep over whenever you want." At that she unknowingly raised one eyebrow. "I have to accept, it's a nice placement..."

"I know," he sighed. "I know you can't stay." Demyx got up and looked out the window, not really wanting to meet her gaze. The Mosh was only a week away. They would win, he just knew it… but he was nervous. Naminé's company had been such a welcome relief since she had moved in. For some reason, he had been convinced she would be around for longer. And now she was leaving in two days. Between his pledge duties and class he wasn't sure how much time he'd have to trek over to East Campus to visit her. It felt so depressing.

Naminé studied him, the way the light cast shadows on his face, his bone structure… his freshly shaved side-cuts giving him that punk faux-hawk that was so fashionable these days. No one would guess he was so gentle and fumbling -in an endearing way- in intimate situations. She recalled one particular morning when she had feigned sleep while he tip-toed around the room to quietly dress, hoping to not wake her. She had watched him from a gap in the covers that still smelled of sex, trying not to smile too wide as he walked around the room for a solid two minutes in nothing but a t-shirt while attempting to locate some fresh underwear. Demyx had this way of making faces to himself as he puzzled through the mess of his room, smelling things and checking under impossible places...

"Naminé?" Demyx asked, breaking her from her daydream. "Are you well?"

"Yes, I'm fine," she laughed softly and rose to embrace him. He was caught off guard, but hugged her back after a moment's hesitation. "I'm going to miss being here, I realize. I'm so lucky that I got to see you every day, even if just for a few weeks."

"I'll miss that," Demyx agreed, inhaling her scent. She smelled so nice all the time.

"So be my boyfriend," she suddenly exclaimed. "Please, starting now."

"Sh-shouldn't I be asking you? I mean, not that it matters, I just... Well, I knew I wanted to ask at a good time but then you just asked and-"

"Meyd?"

"Ah.. hm, yes?" He fumbled and smiled. When she used that name, he still found himself caught off guard.

"Please just say yes."

"Yes. Yes I really want that," Demyx said in a moment of clarity, and kissed her forehead, her cheek, her lips.


End file.
